A Moon Never Clasped
by Falling into the darkness
Summary: Serena made a deal with Galaxia, that she would swear her loyalty to Galaxia for the lifes of everbody to come back. Part of the deal was that no one would remember her. What will Serena do having all the memories that her friends were forced to forget?
1. Chapter 1:Chained to the bearer of Death

A Moon never Clasped

By:Danni Lynn

Chapter 1: Chained to the bearer of death

~+!Serena!+~

_Running down in a silver thread, it ran down her face. Illuminated only by the darkness, it stopped on her chin. Being pulled by the force of gravity, it dripped onto the concrete ground. She didn't stop and pause to count the mounting wounds, none of them did. They just kept going and going, and I just sat there and watched. How could they keep doing this? This needed to stop, here and now. If they continued doing this, they would surely die._

_"Stop!" I cried out in a shrill voice. Everything froze, even Galaxai. All heads swiveled around to give me a confused glance. I raised my scepter high and called out to the Goddess of the moon, Selene, for power._

_Clapping hands made me freeze in my tracks. I stopped and stared as Galaxai laughed as she applauded me. I paused to stare at her with brimming rage, but no matter how much I wanted to hate her, how could I? She was once a senshi too. She just a strayed from the rightoues path. She was just a lost pup looking for reassurence for the loss of it's master. Galaxai grinned at me, knowing that the hatred I searched to grasp, wasn't there._

_"So, Sailor Moon, I have a question to ask you," Galaxai stopped in front of Sailor Mars and lifted her sword in front of Mars' face. Mars jumped back in startlment but it was already too late, the sword was already patruding from the senshi's chest in a disturbing manner. Blood cascaded down the formal senshi shirt as it mingled down to the red skirt. Sailor Mars looked up to stare me in the eyes as a single line of blood ran down from her lips to her chin. It was like as if she was asking me 'why?' before her firery light died and her eyes glazed over before she hit the ground._

_I turned my head away from my friend, Raye, from my senshi, Sailor Mars, from the one that beared the fire of Mars on her forehead. Galaxai began to walked towards me once more as her smile never faded. Sailor Venus lashed out in anger as she landed a punch on Galaxai's cheek. Galaxai's head snapped in the oppisite direction but her feet stayed planted on the ground. With Sailor Venus' fist still connected to her cheek, Galaxai turned her head and looked at the senshi of love and let a wicked smile grace her lips before she lipped 'goodbye'. A sudden beam of light ran from Galaxai's finger tips to Venus' stomach, when the ray made contact with the senshi's skin, the Sailor burst into flames and in matter of seconds the senshi of love was gone. With only a pile of dust that was drifting in the wind for reconiction for any trace that the Sailor of Venus ever existed._

_Tears began to stream down my blood stained cheeks as Galaxai pulled her sword from Mars' chest and dragged it behind her as she made her way towards me with a nonchalant swagger in her step._

_"Now, Sailor Moon, back to that question I had to ask of you, before I was interupted. How about we play a game?" Galaxai asked me with a serious face. I shook my head 'no' as an answer. Galaxai stood still and pouted as she opened up her hand. She lifted up her arm with her open palm facing the remaining Inner scouts. My head snapped up and I opened up my mouth to scream a warning to them, but before even a syllable could even crawl out of my throat, a torent of flames swept up and engulfed the rest of the senshi with out even so much as a woosh to let you know what was happening. Before I could even blink, Jupiter and Mercury were gone._

_Galaxai sighed dramaticly as she prentended to dust off her shoulders and arms._

_"Now that the trash is taken care of, how about me and you get down to business?" Galaxai suggested as she placed her hands on her hips and grinned coldly at me. She had killed them! Every last one of them and I just stood and watched! What kind of friend am I, to watch your friends put thier life on the line to save your wimpy ass? I clenched my fists knowing I could have done something but was too stunned to go into action. Galaxai smiled at my inner guilt battle. Then I let her words melt into my brain and process._

_I looked up at her and narrowed my eyes as I finaly understood her words._

_"What kind a game?" I asked catiously. Galaxai shrugged with a nerve-wrecking glint in her eye._

_"Oh, I don't know. I was thinking along the lines of a deal." Galaxai twisted her hair around her finger, and absentmindly shrugged. I hesistated before I decided to answer her._

_"What kind of deal?" I repeated this time but much more wry. Galaxai stopped and grinned._

_"The type of deal that you bet it all, and if you lose the bet, you lose _everything._" Galaxai slowly with emphasis on everything. _

_"What is it you wish to bet?" I asked her, thinking carefully of everyword I was saying._

_"Not me, you. I will bring the lives of everybody back," Galaxai paused as she noticed she had my complete attention. "But, if I do so, they aren't to remember anything of what and who you are," Galaxai stopped talking and took a moment to think. I could see the twisted medal of the gears in her mind plotting my future wreckening. Her lips twitched into a smirk of pleasure as she swiveled her shiny eyes at the pentecal of her leisure, me._

_"Wait, when you mean everbody, do you mean _everybody_?" I wondered making sure she didn't cheat the bet short. Galaxai nodded, looking startled. "Do you not believe my word?" She questioned me with hurt in her voice. I gave her a disgruntled look and nodded." You killed my friends, my family, and my home. Why should I trust you?" I spat at her with disrespect. I may not hate her, but her expections of instant loyality disgusted me. Galaxai shrugged as if agreeing to what I had said._

_"When I mean everyone, I mean everbody of whom that live on your planet. None other shall be revived. Do not even dare to ask or the bet is off before it has yet to begun." Galaxai warned me. I nodded slowly making sure I understood. Galaxai grinned with superoirty. "Alright, back to what I was saying, all those of whom who know you, will not remember you. To them, you will have simply be a person they see and will never meet again. Also, you are to fight every enemy I send you. Each will be double the strength of the last. Oh, and this is the fun part, you have to swear your loyalty to me that you will do what I ask. And if you fail to defeat the enemies you fight and do what I ask, I kill everyone and everything you hold dear. I'll even destory their star seeds so they won't come back in another life. Besides that, have fun." Galaxai finished. It was one thing to let her make everyone forget me and to fight strong enemies, it was another thing to let her control me like a doll and use me for the advantage to do her bidding. But, as I glanced over the lifeless body of Mars, of Raye, a friend that I wouldn't even think of forgeting, I couldn't bear the idea that she had died in a vain attept to die for me. Such a waste, she had so much waiting for her. Then when I glanced out off into the ruins of my town, and how they had been killed without even a warning that they were going to die, was such a sad thought. Why not take the bet? What was one person's miseries to the happiness and life of others? _

_I could feel my heart beating but it's sullen tune was lonly compared to the stilled hearts of those who died. I nodded in silent agreement and bowed down to Galaxai much like a knight would do to a king. With my head hung low in respect, I could feel my stomach churn in anger as Galaxai laughed at my sudden obiendience._

_"Good girl. I knew you would choose the right choice." Galaxai grinned down at me. I clenched my teeth and controled my voice._

_"I swear my loyalty to Sailor Galaxai, and shall I feel all seven flames of hell and then some, if I dare waver from your ever constant cammand. I, Serena Tsukino, Princess Serenity, and Sailor moon, pledge my life in your hands." I swore to Galaxai. Satisfied with my answer she turned her back on me._

_"Now, when you wake up, everything will be restored to what it orginally was, well, with the requirments of our little deal installed also." Galaxai laughed._

_Suddenly, fresh, hot, pain washed over me and my vision grew dark. My strength disappeared and my surroundings faded. All that I knew up to that moment was complete darkness and enternal oblivion._


	2. Chapter 2:The Threads we Weave

A Moon Never Clasped

By: Danni Lynn

Chapter 2: The Threads we Weave

~+!Serena's Pov!+~

_One...two...three...eight...ten...a month...another month...then..._

_It stops..._

"Class! Pay attention! Good. Class, we have a new student, her name is Serena Tsukino, she's from Kyoto. Make her feel comfortable here. Mina! You'll be the one who'll show her the ropes. Serena, go take a seat by Mina." The teacher directed Serena towards a seat next to the blonde haired beauty as male students looked at her with envy in their eyes as the girls shake their head with pity.

The world had gone on without her, and she had stood timeless in a rip of the universe. Though her body had grown as the days went by, aging her farther into the climax of her youth, her mind had resisted the logic of the melancholy, disabled knowledge of Earth still spinning with hours, months, and years without her there to bask in its dominating happiness as she sat alone in the darkness, waiting for a savior.

Though, she had known of the deal, and **had** lived on the rotating planet for the many months after the contract had been placed in black and white, she had gone on living like a zombie. Haunting her old paths towards her most favorite spots, where she had laughed and cried with those of who were no longer close to her, like a ghost stuck in a endless limbo revisiting what was no longer of existence.

Serena sighed heavily, knowing that as long as her accursed tattoo still bared a mark on her chest, she would still be a forgotten memory that was of none existence in the world.

In seeing the new student, acting so dreary, Mina leaned forward towards the pigtailed girl with a gentle smile on her lips.

"Had a long day, huh?" Mina teased as she poked Serena in the back with the easer end of her pencil. Serena simply didn't respond quickly as she kept her eyes watching the teacher carefully waiting for him to turn his back, before she replied.

As soon as his back was facing the class, Serena swiveled her head to face Mina with an eyebrow raised. "Yes?" She asked, with an amused smile tugging the ends of her lips slightly upwards, if it had been anybody else who had made such a grin it would seem half-hearted and arrogant, but Serena had a way with smiles. That no matter how she looked her smile always held a certain sincerity and joyfulness in it.

Mina grinned back, with mischief twinkling in her eyes. "Had a long day, Tsukino?" Mina formally addressed her with her voice dripping sunshine. Serena simply blinked at her innocently before she shook her head. "Nope, just bored of being here is all. School had never been fun for me." Serena told her, Mina nodded her head understanding Serena's pain of school.

Mina shrugged in agreement. "I have to agree with you there, Tsukino. Hey-"

Suddenly without warning, Mina's head was hit with a small, black object which sent dust spewing over Serena and Mina. "If you like chitchat so much Aino. Please indulge the class of Tsukino and your conversation." The teacher bellowed out at the vulnerable blonde, who winked at Serena before she stood up and tossed the black object that turned out to be the blackboard's easer, back to the teacher. He caught it in mid-air and placed it back where it had originally began.

"Oh, you know girl stuff." Mina didn't imply farther than that with warning in her voice, either he didn't catch it or was just ignoring it; the teacher raised an eyebrow as he stood and waited for more of an explanation.

After seeing that she wasn't going to say any more the teacher frowned. "What 'girl stuff' might that be, Aino?" The teacher asked her with his voice quivering with rising anger. Serena stood up also, to save Mina the embarrassment, already knowing what Mina was going to say. "I asked if I could barrow a tampon, Sir." I replied with ease. I could feel everyone staring at me, as the girls giggled with laughter. The teacher's face went red and his face dropped all of its mocking victory, but apparently his hopes rose once more as his startled face gained back his poser. "If you need such a thing, Tsukino, go to the clinic to get one. Don't interrupt my class for with such an inappropriate explanation. I will leave you off with a warning, as for you Aino-"

Serena stopped the teacher mid-sentence with a witty comeback."How is it inappropriate, Sir? Isn't it simply natural? A process all females go through." She coolly waved off the stares of her classmates with a hand as Mina watched on with amusement. It was apparent the teacher was the only one who couldn't make light of the current situation, as his face turned a darker shade of red.

"It is Tsukino, but saying those kinds of things in class is hardly irrelevant and should be dealt with alone or with a female adult, not with my class." The teacher answered with his jaw clamped tight with controlled rage. His brown hair fell down over his spectacles as his stomach bulged out of his tight shirt. His short legs disappeared under his glutton mid-section as he wobbled over to stand in front of Serena. Being taller than him, it was easier to stare him down.

"I wasn't sharing it with your class, Sir. You simply asked what I was talking to Aino about." Serena politely reminded him of the reason why they were talking about such a thing.

Knowing he had been beat, the burnet teacher grunted in annoyance. "Talking back to teachers is rude and arrogant, Tsukino. You best remember that." He huffed as he hobbled back to the front of the class. Serena smiled sweetly as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You asked a question and I answered, Sir. I hardly call that talking back." Serena snapped back with a gentle voice. "Um, Mr. Mosemoto, let me show Tsukino here where the clinic is." Mina wrapped an arm around Serena's shoulders and in one fluid motion; they slipped out of class before another word could be uttered from the stunned teacher and via the class.

Once they had turned the corner, Mina slammed her against the wall and pinned Serena down. She gave no motion to decline the sudden movement. "Wow, Tsukino, you sure have great comebacks. I like you. I was going to say something like that but you so made that much more amusing." Mina laughed as Serena smiled in return. She had gained back one important friend, but knowing Mina no longer knew who Serena was, it wouldn't have mattered. Serena was caught by invisible chains and had no freedom of her own. Serena's life wasn't the best. Her family had forgotten of her existence. Her friends knew nothing of her anymore. Her boyfriend saw her nothing more than as a stranger, as he turned down to go abroad and study a little bit more in Tokyo.

"Want to skip class, Tsukino? If you don't want to that's fine. I just-"Serena, who was still caught up in her happiness laughed as she stopped the ranting Mina, mid-sentence. "It's fine Mina. You know me. We do this all the time." Serena stopped. Already wishing she could take back her words. Mina tilted her head sideways confused. "I just met you, Tsukino. This is the first time I have EVER skipped class WITH _you_." Mina put emphasis on her words as she narrowed her eyes at Serena with caution.

Serena looked at Mina, and then shook her head with an apologetic grin. "Sorry, Aino. I had a friend back in Kyoto who had the same name as you, and we were best friends. I'm a bit of a ditz; I confuse faces with memories all the time." Serena reassured the Love senshi, who went red with embarrassment and gave back a shaky smile. "Yeah."

Serena turned and stalked off down the hall as Mina watched her leave. "Where are you going, Tsukino?" She called from behind as she ran to catch up. Serena looked over her shoulder at her friend. "To the park. You wanted to skip class, so I'm skipping class. You are welcome to join me, if you want." She replied as she fell into step with the blonde. Mina nodded as they stalked off the school and whisked away from sight in the afternoon sun.

"So, why did you move down here to Tokyo? Isn't Kyoto suppose to be nice?" Mina kept droning on and on with her motor mouth, but enjoying the company of someone other than her master, Serena laughed and answered each question as truthfully as she could.

Sunshine pored out over the grass in light patches as the looming trees shaded them from the welting flame of ultraviolet rays. The wind blew lightly, causing the girls' hair to be whipped up in the motion. Serena lied down on to the grass as she used her arms as her pillow. Mina continued to sit with her legs pulled up to her side. Serena smiled as she stared up into the sky.

"Today is nice. I'm glad I met you, Aino." She spoke softly and Mina looked out into the distance, "Yeah, I'm glad too." Mina whispered to no one. Serena knew that Mina could never be her best friend with her being a sailor scout that served Galaxia. Practically, she and Mina were enemies.

"Hey, Mina! I knew, I'd find you here!" A voice came yelling from afar and Serena sat up to see who the owner of the voice belonged to. A tall, graceful figure made her way up the incline hill with a short haired girl trailing after her, her blue locks rustling behind her.

Mina waved them over and I felt like running. It hadn't even been one day; she was already meeting old friends. What a small world.

"Hi." Was all Serena could stutter out, as her voice was caught in her throat. She didn't know what to expect, logic sense was that if she met one then it was only a matter of hours before she met the others. The brunette glanced sideways at Serena and gave a small nod of acknowledgement before she turned her attention back on the happy blonde. Serena smiled up at the other girl who was cradling a book in her hand and motioned for her to sit down. The other girl grinned and took the seat next to her.

"I'm Serena. Hello." Serena was never one to be formal, but when you met up with friends that had long since of forgotten you, you would want to be formal. "Ami, hi." Was the only response she got as Ami flipped open the book and begun reading. Serena leaned forward and snapped the book closed. Ami looked up startled. "What are you doing?" She asked, careful of keeping her voice low and polite. Serena shook her head and grinned. "Reading on such a beautiful day is such a waste." She laughed as she gently took the book out of her hand and set it down next to her. Ami looked around and shrugged. "It is isn't it?" She replied with admiration adorning her voice. Serena nodded and jumped up. Placing both hands on her hips, "Who wants ice cream?" She bellowed out to Mina and the others. Mina's hand shot up as drool poured out of her mouth like a waterfall. The brunette chuckled and raised her own hand, now waiting for Ami to answer, Serena got on her hands and knees and begged. "Please, Ami?" She whined. Ami laughed and shoved Serena back teasingly. "Aren't you the one that said to enjoy your day? So what d you think?" Ami got up with her book and hand. "I'll take that as a yes!" Serena made her way up and towards the Crown, with her new (old) friends falling behind.

~+!Mina's Pov!+~

"A bit eccentric, isn't she?" Lita laughed as they trailed behind the marching pig-tailed blonde. "Yip." Mina responded as she day-dreamed of all the ice cream she could think of. "Where she come from?" Ami asked as she had her nose buried in her book once again. "Kyoto." Mina's voice was dripping with joy. Suddenly, their happy afternoon was cut short as a loud beeping sound caused them to stop. Mina was snapped instantly from her day-dreaming as she flipped the communicator on. "What's up?" Mina answered as Rei's face showed up on the screen. "Youma at the old factory pasted the Crown." Mina nodded and looked around, about to wave off her new friend about the sudden departure, but surprise flickered in her eyes as Serena was no where in sight. Mina sighed heavily with relief. Looking up, she nodded towards her fellow senshi and they were off.

~+!Serena's Pov!+~

Leaping roof to roof had its advantages and disadvantages. Con) you can slip off and get hurt. Pro) can get to where you're going much faster. Con) buildings' tops are all different sizes. Pro) can make you unseen by you opponent and prying eyes. Con) you can easily get attacked from above. Pro) you can kick ass if you jump from above and attack. They won't know what hit them.

Serena was trying to get there as fast as possible, already knowing where the monster was. That thing was after her, she would be damned if she let it attack anyone other than her.

A piercing scream lit up through the air and broke the resilient silence that had become around the surrounding area. Serena shuddered as the pain hit her like a force that can't be stopped. Galaxia hadn't explain in detail the full extent of the contract and part of it was that any Youma that is sent by Galaxia is physically linked to her, so that any pain inflicted on it, she would feel it too. It was another twisted logic that she found out the hard way.

She moaned as she felt the flames lick across her skin and smelled the burnt flesh. She choked down her whines and straightened her spine as she leaned down over the edge of the roof.

There stood Sailor Mars as she ran around firing flaming arrows at that tall Youma. Its body was small and lithe but its strength was lacking. It dodged most of the attacks but Mars got some good shots in the mean while. Suddenly, the Youma threw a small black object at Mars, she was able to avoid the attack but it still grazed her arm. Instantly, her arm was bleeding.

Daggers. Serena wasted no time as she transformed into her senshi uniform, and leaped from the roof down as she foot planted the Youma right in the jaw. It flew back startled and lost balance, though Serena flinched at the pain she made use of the time she had by jumping high in the air and lifting her foot her up she placed the heel of her boot right into the monster's heart.

It shrieked in pain as its body was engulfed in blue flames, Serena bent forward and placed her hand on the monster's forehead. "May in death you find the light." She whispered, the Youma laughed at her as its body flickered in one fluid motion. Serena didn't acknowledge at what they had done to her. She simply gave it an apologetic smile as it body smoldered to death. Blood gushed down her now open wound and onto the pavement. She didn't react but turned her head and looked at the only other person that was on this street besides her. Mars stared at her. She opened her mouth to speak but the other senshi called to her and she looked at them. "Your late." She told them. They stopped when they saw Serena. Serena stared at them for a moment. Taking in all of them. They had grown in the last year. They had lived on without her and she would make it just that way for a little longer.

"You are not my enemy." Was all that was said before she disappeared into the night. Running out onto the rooftops she stopped and turned around as she caught the small sharp object. It's sharp sides cut her flesh in two but she didn't indicate the pain. Her wounds would heal in an hour or two. They always do.

"Who are you?" A man clad in a Tuxedo stepped out of the shadows and approached her. She didn't reply but flicked the rose back to him. He grabbed in it in his fist and crushed it. The rose pedals were picked up by the wind and carried away. Serena watched them flow by silently, wishing she was free from her restraints. "Are you friend or foe?" He asked her. Again, she didn't respond, but watched him shift his feet. How he clenched and unclenched his fists. How his cold blue eyes followed her every move. How his muscles rippled under his clothes. His power. His strength. She had had him once, but no more. She wasn't even existence to anyone that had ever known her. She was what you would call, dropped off the face of the Earth. She had. For a short time. Then she came back. To find all that she knew had changed. The memories of her being were warped and faded. She knew that. Galaxia knew that. Everybody else didn't know that.

She bit her lower lip as she was reminded that the monster she had killed tonight had been the first. There would be more innocent stained upon her hands. Those Youma were once human but no longer, as she had watched the monster die in those flames, its eyes held misery and regret as it gained back the important thing that had been taken away. Its humanity.

"What is your reason of killing that monster? Are you an ally?" His voice held controlled anger, Serena didn't move. Her eyes hardened and her lips were set in a grim line. "

Do not interfere or you will die." She answered him, her voice low, but full of malice and threat. He blinked. She blinked. Moments ticked away as the sun sunk lower into the horizon. Time was running out. She needed answers and leads. She knew not on where to find them. The black attired man frowned and his emotionless eyes held rage and confusion. "Is that a threat?" His authority and power were laced in every step, every word, that, that man made. Serena shook her head. She needed to get away. Her heart wished to stay. "No. You shall not interfere." She repeated, hoping he would be smart enough to heed her warning and disappear. He didn't move. Maybe he wasn't as smart as she gave him credit to.

"Why is that?" His questions seemed endless and Serena mentally groaned in frustration. This man just had know everything, didn't he? "You will die if you intervene. I shall not let you." She disappeared to the human eye and he frantically searched about for her, but she had merely run up behind him. She leaned forward and let her lips brush against his ear. "Who are you?" He asked her once more that night. She felt him moving for his rod that was hidden inside his coat.

"You are no enemy of Cosmos. Nor are you ally. Stay away, for you have been warned." She whispered. His body snapped backwards towards her but she was faster. Much faster. She grabbed his cane and with her strength, snapped it in two. He stared, stunned as time slowed. The wooden shards splintered out everywhere, but she did not flinch. Neither did he. Their gaze was locked and familiarity flickered in his eyes, but she knew he would not remember her. She watched as his eyes glazed over in pain and he dropped to his knees clutching his head. His groans of pain slithered across her skin and she could sympathize on what that had felt. She knew because Galaxia had cut off some of her memories as well and try as she might, all she was able succeed in doing was get herself horrible pain. It was if her head was being smashed open. She knelt down and placed a hand on his shoulder. He didn't look at her but crawl deeper into himself as he tried to wait the pain out.

"Darien…" She uttered his name. Breaking a taboo. She was not suppose to say anything to him, but she had loved him once, and she still cared. He didn't move. She wrapped his arm around her shoulders and helped him to his feet. His eyes were closed shut and he kept moaning. She let him put all of his weight on her and in a sudden instant they were no longer on the same roof. She carried him away towards where he lived. It would be the safest place for him to rest. It was a simple task of taking him from one place to another. She was not weak as she had once been. She had gotten stronger. How, she did not know. Why, that wasn't even evident in her mind. She knew few of what had happened this past year, but she was sure it was of the making of her master, Galaxia.

It was a short distance to his apartment and she leapt nimbly towards the balcony and let him get to his feet. By then he had lost all consciousness and was softly asleep. She slid open his glass door and walked the small expanse from the balcony door to his bed. Before setting him down she threw off the covers of his single bed and lied him down. It wasn't much longer after he lost consciousness that he transformed back into Darien Shields. She set him down onto the bed and took off his shoes and jacket.

Placing them down onto the floor; she pulled the covers over him and just watched his chest rise and fall. He was breathing steady and he looked peaceful. No nightmares tonight for the little ruffian. She smiled and brushed the hair out of his face. She quickly withdrew her hand when she realized what she was doing.

She stepped away and slid open the sliding glass door and took one step outside before the man, she had once given all her heart to, called out her name. "Serena…" He muttered in his sleeping dreams. She glanced back over her shoulder, not sure she had heard him right, but he called for her once more. A small tear ran down her face, unaware that it was even there.

It was already night and the moon was rising into the sky. Her hair was illuminated silver and her golden ribbons fluttered in the wind. Her small skirt was ringed in gold also. Her high-heeled booted ran all the way up to her knees. As her shirt was plain white, her gloves were pure white also that ran from her fingertips to her elbows. At the base of the elbows they were ringed golden as well. Her choker no longer held a heart in its center; it was a solid gold color with a white gem in the middle. The gem was the source of Galaxia's control; a leash if you must call it. Her brunettes were adorning her hair like usual, they held no pacific values, it was apart of her attire. She wasn't Sailor Eternal Moon anymore; her wings had grown from its childish length to head to toe wings that spread the length of her body when they were stretched.

Serena glanced once more at Darien's sleeping figure and gave a small smile. There lied a man who held his future in his hands. He could destroy it at will, as much as he could create it. He could live without her. He had for most of his life and in the past year. What they had together a millennia ago was of no more. She was the one breaking the ties, not him. At least he wouldn't know that.

"You will not die, for I shall not let you interfere." She said that once more that day before she stepped completely out into the night and let her wings spread out. She fluttered them a little so they could ease a bit of their soreness before she took flight. In one gentle swoop she was high in the sky with the moon's big bulk behind her tiny figure. She was simply a dot to those who looked up from below.

Serena stared out over her home town. Tokyo was a big place after all, but she knew all of its alleys, twists and turns, hilled and ditches. This place had been her life. All she had ever known. And she had let her master destroy it in one blast from her hand. She had not meant for it to happen but she was responsible for the lives of those who lived on Earth. She would give her life up for it, but alas her life meant nothing.

It was power that dominated the game she was forced to play. Knowledge was only a step ladder to get to the top. Strength was simply a boost, but power was the main obstacle. The role that lead to all of destruction and creation.

Though it had only been a year, Tokyo had changed drastically. It was an ever changing place. It never stayed still for long. Things were always getting destroyed and rebuilt. Such was the fate of modern history.

Today was the set of many events that would forever change the minds of the adolescent teenage senshi. For their original leader was already far warped than even she knew, it was the start of something, as it was the end of something else. Close one door and open another.

~+!Rei's Pov!+~

_Just after the Youma was killed…._

She watched as blood trickled down the blonde's stomach. Just before the monster was engulfed in flames completely, it sliced her stomach with one of its razor sharp daggers. The angelic girl didn't show a hint of pain, but her eyes held nothing but solemn realization. The blue hues looked like they should have been filled with glee and light but was simply full of dread and reality.

Rei held her bleeding arm by her hand to stanch the flow but she couldn't take her eyes off the girl that was running her crimson life force out onto the ground and show not even a hint of pain. The strange angelic winged lady looked just as old as Rei but so much more mature as if she had seen more years than her own body had. The girl had bent forward towards the creature and muttered something. The thing looked as if she told a joke and thought it was funny, just before it injured her.

"Sailor Mars!" A voice from behind caught her attention and she turned to see the rest of her senshi bounding up towards her, all tense and ready to fight.

"Your late." She replied before she glanced over at the winged blonde. Her uniform was much similar to her fellow scouts but she had wings and she adorned in gold and white. The only other color was the blue of her eyes.

The senshi stopped and they watched the other Sailor that stood over the charred body that use to be the monster. Her dead looking eyes followed their every move as they did to her.

She opened her mouth to speak, "You are not my enemy.", her voice was cold and void of any emotion and just like that; she disappeared.

Rei blinked for a couple of seconds trying to comprehend the situation. This Sailor-looking winged girl shows up out of nowhere and killed the Youma with one quick stab to the heart with a heel; mutters something, supposedly funny; says some quick mumbo jumbo and is gone a flick of a flash.

"What the hell?" Was the only answer Rei could come up with before she turned to her fellow senshi that were looking hopelessly confused and stunned silent.

Mercury walked up to the burnt body and scanned it with her mini-lab top then snapped it closed before she walked back over. "What are we going to do with the body?" She asked. Rei shrugged. "Leave it. It no longer has its original human form; it's just a body that looks like a deformed human. The police with clean it up." Was her only solution. She waved off the stares of her friends and started to head home. She changed back into her civilian attire along the way. As did her friends. Leaving the body as instructed.

"Who was that girl?" Lita came up and whispered to Rei. "I don't know, but she was injured badly and didn't even react let alone flinch." Was the reply. Lita looked surprised. "Really?" Rei nodded. "I'm going home to consult the fire about this." Lita mumbled an agreement and fell back to tell her friends. At once she was alone.

_Present time..._

Images flashed before her mind's eye but only some were she able to see clearly.

_A girl with wings that wore the Sailor uniform held a babe in one hand. The babe was a new born child, recently came from the womb. Its cries were loud and deafening but the girl made no move to stop it. She got down on one knee and hung her head as she raised the babe above her head in a sacrificial way. A woman of elegance and grace came up and took the child into her arms._

Instantly it was gone, but just as fast as it disappeared; Rei was thrown into another one.

_Tears running down, blood staining the ground, the scent of death hung heavily in the air. One figure stood amongst the crimson sea and bodies. Her back was turned and she was just standing there, but she glanced over her shoulder and grinned. Her violet eyes glowed a muddy brownish-red as she laughed at the sight before her. Her aura was maddening lethal and love of chaos was stitched in every fiver of the mincing atmosphere._

Rei's scream was caught in her throat as the vision was ripped away, but she panting heavily by the time the next image appeared before her.

_Blood pored onto the ground as the fallen figure lied in a pool of its own liquid fluids. A blade was shoved in the heart of the small figure. The white wings were fluttering in the wind and dispersing from the person and becoming feathers floating away in the sky. There was no sorrow here, but understanding and a saddening truth. The entire senshi stood around the girl with their hands bowed and their hands locked in a prayer. Though silence was all that was heard, frantic and pain filled voices thrashed about in their minds as memory after memory came racing back. Ruins of a once magnificent structure were now shambles as they lied scattered among the ground. Grass weaved in and out of the stones that were once one being, it was being flattened by the forceful blow of the wind. High above a blue marble that is to be a planet adorned the starry back sky. A soft luminescent glow surrounded the youthful girl, her face was serene and her long golden hair flowed around her body as her white skin lost its life full color. Her white uniform was drenched in red but it was not horrify but… complete truth. Two people stood some distance away as they watched the group in prayer. One was male with silver hair that went down to the waist his short bangs failed to cover the golden crescent move adorned on his forehead. His soft pale blue eyes were filled with mourn but understanding. His clothes were a simple white shirt that was laced in the crevice of the middle part of the chest, a necklace that held a five pointed star, and hand made slacks that were made from cotton and dyed white._

_The other was a woman, whose hair went down to her feet with silver and gold streaks placed every where in the black hair. Her bangs were short as well and held the same symbol on her forehead as the male that stood next to her. Her violet eyes were filled with determination and mourn, as much as they were glazed with a sudden pain of reality. She held a staff in her hand that was a little bit shorter than her with a metal symbol that resembles the necklace at the top of the staff. The staff itself was wooden and black. Her dress flowed around her, befitting of someone of her stature. Its bottom and end of the sleeves were ringed in silver as her rest of her dress was black but she had the collar of her dress golden. Frills entwined the collar and led down the middle of the back where it linked together exposing her back. _

_The atmosphere was sad but it wasn't sorrow but the happiness of the war finally being over and with the death of the fallen not in vain._

Without realizing it tears were running down her face as emotions swirled in a torrent frenzy inside of her stomach. She didn't know if she should be happy, sad, angry, hurt, scared, or even understanding. She did know that what the fire had showed her were possible futures of what could happen. She didn't want any of them to happen because death was in every one of them, but she would rather take the last or first one than to the one with the sea of blood and the lone figure. These were the threads that would weave into the future but which path would they be condemned to walk? Each one held its own miseries and pain, but every one was very different.

_What do you think? How will this story turn out? REVIEW if you liked it. Please. I'm going to be working with this story as much as I can. I am in the process of making other stories just as good as this one if not better. Say what you want. Flames are fine, as well as positive answers._

_-Danni_


	3. Chapter 3: Never Forgotten

A Moon Never Clasped

By: Danni Lynn

Chapter 3:Never Forgotten

_Just after the scouts left the dead youma's body…_

The wind whispered the untold stories of those who were left and forgotten as the world continued to keep on going, leaving behind those dead and gone. A gust blew down on the senshi as they left the crisped body of the monster. Its ashes were picked up and carried away on the wind like feathers on water.

A figure in the distance stood in the shadows watching the body get picked away a twisted smile made its way to their lips as the body slowly twitched, but that was the only movement that would be seen for hours.

"Interesting creature…" Was all that was muttered from the hidden figure. In an instance they were gone and all that remained was the unmoving body of the Youma.

Of course, leaving a charred body out in the middle of the road for all the public eye to see isn't the smartest move to be made by the scouts but it was by far the best. Though it would not be long till the body was found.

_Three hours later…_

_Just after Rei had the visions…_

"Mother! Mother! Look at me! Look at me" Laughter was filled in the still night as the wind softly whispered against the concrete city. A small child, no more than the age of five, was running down the empty road as the mother walked quietly behind, hindered by the weight of the backpack and groceries that she held in her hand.

Stopping momentarily to catch her breath, she stood and watched her child leap up and kick the air, imitating a Karate move that the child perhaps saw on the Television set. A smile graced the young woman's lips as her child looked at her for approval.

"You're getting better, I can tell. Do be careful, dear." She gently scolded as she hitched the backpack up onto her shoulder and traded the weight of the groceries into the other hand before she got walking once more.

At some point in time, children ignore the warning of the parent before doing just exactly what they asked you NOT to do. That is how children learn to listen and heed the warning of the parent, as not to make the same mistake again. This particular child did just that, as he nodded to his mother before running off down into the darkness of the night.

Breathing out into short puffs, the small frame moved up and down from the panting of exerting so much energy at such a fast rate. Then after a moments rest, panic began to set in like a rock resting in your stomach as your face grew red with fear. The young child spun in a complete circle hoping to see a slight glimmer of his mother's figure.

Like a moan, a soft wisp of air came croaking out from within the shadows. The boy jumped, startled by the odd sound. His eyes widened in fear as his right hand clenched into a tight fist around his giant, over bearing, hand-me-down shirt.

The air shifted in sudden movement as a low laugh made its way of the darkness, towards the young child that stood venerable on the dark road.

Some-ways down the street, the mother began to get frantic when her child disappeared from sight. She picked up her speed and jogged as fast as she could towards the direction the boy ran off in.

Soon, though after making no success in finding her boy, she began to call his name. No small voice called back in return. After taking some steps in the completely pitch black road, she caught sight of a small shadow. With a smile of relief, she hurried towards her son, but catching sight of the current situation, she stopped.

Shock rippled through the air as she dropped her groceries to the ground and the backpack instantly slackened on its hold as her body stood there like as if she was suspended in the air like a marionette puppet. Her lower lip quivered then began to tremble as a small choking gasp escaped her throat.

The shadow was exactly what the mother was looking for, her son. His eyes were wide and glassy, as a dark fluid dripped down from his drenched shirt and onto the road. His breathe came out as a tiny squeak as the mother caught sight of the protruding metal that stuck out from the boy's left breast. His hair was picked by the wind and carried backwards, exposing the child's lifeless face.

Before a scream could be uttered, the adolescence woman was only barely out of her teens before she was bestowed with an irreversible burden. Out of no where, there was a fast glint of light as a small sharp object embedded itself into her skin. Instantly, all life died from her eyes as they glazed over with death.

A laugh was heard as no more than a faint whisper as it suddenly disappeared into the night. No longer was there a charred body of a dead Youma that lied on the deserted street but a family of two that both lied face down in a pool of their own blood.

~+!Serena's Pov!+~

The night crawled by as Serena flew above in the sky with the moon setting her small body aglow. She looked nothing more than a dark speck on a white piece of paper, as she peered down into the city. Waiting and watching. Time seemed to flow at a different rate from up above that it did for those down below. Down there, everything is like a ticking clock. Tick-tock. Tick-tock. It passes by at such a fast pace that its like your trying to grip a slick cliff. You wake up its morning, you blink its night. Up high in the sky away from prying eyes, time passes ever so slowly. You see all the people going about their day, you feel the wind whistle by against your skin. You hear the cars and the numbing pitch of electricity. You smell the smoke and steam that comes from the near-by factories. You can taste the burning carbon coming off all the gas-used machines. You can know life from up in the sky.

Suddenly, Serena stopped enjoying her view from above but descended down to the Earth. She could see it, the blood flowing so lazily on the ground as it ran down the slope in a thick river. She frowned, obviously something was wrong, but what? Certainly it was too soon for there to be another youma, it'd only been a couple hours. She had to find the source of the obscured obscenity, for that no mortal could achieve such a death blow so cleanly with that much strength.

She could feel the power oozing out from the other side of the link she had with the youma, but that was all she could gain from it besides the pain. There always seemed to be pain, Serena grimaced at the thought. That was lesson number one when serving Galaxia.

The cold bodies were already pale with the setting of rigor mortise creeping into the bones as the night was dry and humid. Threatening clouds hung way off in the distance, making it known they would come and it would rain. It was rounding around three 'o'clock in the morning and Serena was getting bleary with sleepiness but there were dead bodies on the ground and a youma loose out onto the city.

She bent down onto the road, leaning over the mother's body, she flipped her onto her back staining her hands with the dried blood. The mother's glazed stare watched out into the cloudy sky as if those eyes saw what the world truly was and knew all that was to be known, but Serena took out a knife and dipped it into the cold, gooey blood making sure she had enough to use as a sample. She opened her sub-space pocket and let a small tube materialize in her hand as she scrapped the blade against the tip of the tube letting the blood seep slowly into the container, after she had enough she placed the tube and knife back into it original hold in her different dimension pocket.

Unknowingly tears crept down her face, as those dead eyes seemingly peered into her heart, her very soul and saw every sin, every burden, and every pain etched memory that even Serena did not know was there. The tears dripped off her chin and onto the blue-paled cheeks of the woman that was no more than a couple of years older than Serena, herself, they welled up and rolled down her face, echoing all the regrets that went unheard and undone.

Serena bent forward and pressed her hand to the woman's forehead, "May in death you find the light." she whispered sullenly as she closed those unseeing, brokenhearted eyes for the last time. "Sleep well, you deserve the rest." Relentless of what character the girl had portrayed, Serena knew that she had held a precious light that was searching to be shared and as Serena stood back onto her feet and stared at the small child that laid quietly a few feet away, Serena knew without a doubt that light had shined brightly for the young boy as long as he had lived.

She walked over to the boy whose face was etched in eternal horror, as he appeared so small in his big oversized clothes that had seen more years than it was worth. She took out another knife and took another piece of blood from him, but as she was about to get another tube, she jumped backwards doing a back flip while still landing on her feet like a cat, just as her feet touched the ground a hot ball of fire whizzed over the small child's body, for a brief second his body lighted up and as his terror was literally poring out of the kid's body posture.

"You wretched person!" A sobbed scream yelled out from the darkness and Serena cursed under her breath for being interrupted. A heart shaped whip came lashing at her and she had to leap a couple of feet away to avoid from being hit. Suddenly a sudden mist covered the entire area as rain began to pour heavily from the sky, thunder rolled and lightening came speeding downwards. Serena, obviously the target. She dropped to the ground and rolled away but she wasn't fast enough to dodge completely, her leg seared with pain as blood oozed out from my burnt skin. She paused and glanced over at the boy, his eyes were wide-open with nothing but a horrified face as his only expression, clearly he died long before he felt the pain.

Again the whip came at her, she turned away with her back towards it, walking towards the body. The whip cut through her thin uniform and scrapped across her skin like thorns. Serena's bad leg buckled under her momentarily, but she held her ground and kept moving forwards. What felt like cold ice came piercing into her skin like sharp rocks, she was stabbed twice in the ribs and once in the arm yet her body propelled forward. Serena was determined to get to that corpse.

Then a streak of lightening ran all the way, blocking her view from the boy's body as a steady fire erupted from the ground, encircling her in a wall of fire. She tensed her muscles and leaped forward with her arms wrapped around her head, oddly she made it out with only the tips of her boots singed and the bottom of her skirt burned a little. There, a couple of feet lied the body, Serena was so close, this time though as the whip came at her, it went through the fire, the metal caught flame and heated the metal and when it slashed across her back, she knew that would take more than a day's worth to heal. Serena screamed out as her legs gave underneath her. Falling hard onto her knees, Serena was sent on all fours. Blood poured out from her wounds, dripping onto the pavement only to be washed away by the rain.

She glanced back up at the boy, she only wanted to send him off properly. No one should die with their eyes open. Never. What a cruel act of god that would be. With a renewed will Serena found the strength to get to her feet as she walked those two feet and bent forwards. Her wings curled protectively over her and shielded the corpse from the rain. She bent forward and placed a hand on the child's forehead, once more tears leaked out of her eyes. "May in death you find the light." She cried out as she closed the young boy's eyes forever,so they would never again see the world with its cruel reality.

Serena's wings opened and the rain splashed down onto her face, she looked up at the sky, in a faint glimmer she could make out the mother's shape as she held the young child's hand as the walked away up into the sky. They held smiles and a piercing warm light glowed around them, a light that Serena knew she would never achieve in having.

The sounds of footsteps and water being splashed noisily, caused Serena to look over her shoulder at the accusing glares of the scouts. The people she had held close to her heart and soul from the very day she befriended them, but she only sighed sadly as she was the only one aware of the fact. She turned and faced them, her face all devoid of emotion except the pain that she could never erase from her body and heart.

"I suppose you'll consider me the enemy for this misunderstanding. Though I shall warn you that things don't always appear the way they seem." Serena told them bluntly, Mars eye twitched as she lifted her arms up ready to attack me without hesitation. "There is no misunderstanding here! You killed them, we saw the weapon you used to murder these innocent people!" Jupiter yelled at her with cold, angry eyes, even the kindhearted Mercury stared at Serena with rage. She shook her head slowly, "You'll see the real killer soon. Though by then, it'd probably be a corpse as well." she denied Jupiter's accusation with ease. Venus held her love chain whip tightly in her hand, waiting for some resistance as to captured Serena, but she would not fall into such an easy trap. This time though, she didn't have a flashy exit as Serena spun on her heel and turned to walk away.

"Stop." Venus whispered low though Serena heard it loud and clear. She stared at her over her shoulder with sullen and tired eyes. She hadn't ever meant to hurt a friend so close to her, but as the rain poured and the wind howled out into the night, Serena knew it would be more than just that. "Why?" She asked not as a reply to Venus' command but more to of why did her life have to be so pain inflicted.

"Because you are more than what you know." Venus answered her, Serena looked at her wide-eyed stunned, but as she moved backwards her choker shook with force as little lightening bolts poked and prodded her like needles in her body. Serena's mind went blank as pain surged through it, throbbing. She glanced back up at the scouts. Mars' rage filled eyes, Jupiter's battle hungry stare, Mercury's observing,watchful glare and Venus' calculating, desolate face.

"Venus...Mi-" As she got to her feet the pain went from a numbing shock to stabbing jolts causing her to fall to knees.

_Our contract, Serena!_

A voiced yelled inside her head. Serena clutched her head in agony as she stumbled to get her balance and hobble away but a man clad in the only color as dark as the night stepped forward. She saw his figure go from clear to fuzzy and bleary, she was running out of time, so she bowed her head. "I consent to my punishment." Serena whispered and the pain stopped. She climbed steadily to her feet and looked up at the sky, the moon was waning. Dawn would be here soon, her wings stretched out and beat against the wind, slowly her body lifted. As she was about to be swept up into the air current, Darien grabbed her hand, preventing her only escape.

"Stop, please!" She cried as fear and anguish rushed through her system, startling the tuxedo attired man, alas he held firm and she was forced to land. His eyes were hidden behind his mask, but Serena was not deceived that this man knew not of who she was, even though their last meet ended with her name upon his sweet lips. The sky began to grow lighter, and Serena felt her skin prickle in anxiety.

_Do you wish to break our agreement?_

She stopped dead cold, as sweat drenched her forehead and her wings shivered slightly rustling the wind as feathers began to pick up and float away gently in the wind. She could easily get away but at what price? It wasn't worth the pain of her friends and former love to suffer for just a little escape route. "Death is something that I will not let you have." Serena spoke out to Darien, out to the scouts that had all been so close to her, so very close. Now, it was shattered like her scattering wings. Her power was limited as Sailor moon and transforming back always hurt, her power was at its reach and she would soon turn back to Serena Tsukino, the girl that every once loved but now had not a clue to who she even was. How pitiful.

Venus walked up to Serena and placed a hand on her face as she peered intently into her eyes, possibly searching for the one thing Serena, herself could no longer find within her heart, her light. The light that the mother and child that stood at their feet once had known despite their terrible circumstances in their own game of life.

"Why would you take away that one leisure from us?" Venus' daring voice caused Serena to stare at her wide-eyed scared of what might happen if she spoke out against the blond beauty. She grabbed her composure and took Venus' hand away from her face and gripped it tightly. "Because that leisure had been granted to you one to many times." She answered as memories of their deaths with other battles flint through her mind's eyes. Each one a torn hole in her bleeding heart.

"Hmm. Do you know us?" Venus gave her a thoughtful stare as she nodded agreeing to something that she herself only knew to what that conversation might be. Serena stopped as she remembered Galaxia's earlier warning. Her blue eyes hardened and she shook her head sadly. "No, but..." She hesitated on how to answer such a straight forward question and not give away too much that they would be forced to die. Venus gave an encouraging squeeze of her hand as she let go of Serena's hand and took a step back, granting her the space of her own privacy.

"Do you know me?" Serena flipped the question and Venus shook her head. "No, but...I saw something familiar in you. Something that I have seen somewhere before and can no longer place it." Venus replied quietly, the first rays of the sun peeked out over the building and bathed the goddess of love with an orange glow. Her hair glittered in the light like as if it was the color of the sun itself, as her orange uniform shone too bright that it practically hurt to look at her. If only looks could kill, Serena thought.

"I'm happy." Despite her sadden eyes and sullen face, Serena was truly happy that at least one scout saw something other than a threat or enemy. Her feathers were almost gone and so she leaped up onto the nearest rooftop leaving those confused and awed.

Serena ran off towards her present home. It was located on the far reaches of Tokyo and was a good distance away from her school, but it served it purposes (like being cheap). It was single bedroom, with one bathroom and a kitchen, but decently sized at the top floor of the four star building. Jumping balcony to balcony was the only way Serena was a able to make it to her apartment without being seen. The neighborhood she was in was always if not empty, something about it being haunted or killings she was told about, she didn't care she could take care of herself.

She walked toward her bathroom and turned on the water letting it fill the tub, her scout uniform was gone and left her with her pants and shirt and of course, the wings. The bathroom was stained in blood, her blood. It wasn't dry and it wasn't wet, but it was obvious that blood had soaked into the tile and metal long before it had been washed away. The small machete was chipped and cracked even though it was still sharper than any other tool Serena had and had yet to use.

She stripped herself bare, ripping her shirt in the process due to the skeletal, bare wings that protruded out from her back. Her skin was covered in scars and bruises due to the many battles she had been through some had been pretty life threatening, in the end she was always the victor. She had lived here for almost half a year, laying low and killing off whatever youmas that happened to pop up and kill them before the Sailors found out they were ever there. Now, she needed contact.

Serena picked up the machete and brought the blade to the tip of her shoulder blades and clenched her teeth as she began to saw off her left wing. Blood sprayed the ground, the walls, and her naked body, it was like eating off your own arm, even though Serena had done this often, it never gets better it is just as painful as the first time it happened. Once the wings are separated from the body they just disappear into thin air.

As the weight of the wing was instantly separated it was like loosing a hundred pounds almost instantly. She clutched her bleeding back as best as she could and took the bandages she left on the counter to wrap around her wound to stanch the bleeding. She gripped the corners of the marble ledges for dear life as she focused to keep awake. She always lost a fair amount of blood when she did this. So she was feeling pretty dizzy.

After a moment had passed she took a deep breath and took of the next wing, it fell to the ground with a loud thud and Serena dropped to her knees as her forehead rested against the counter. Blood oozed from her bandages and dripped down her back slowly, mixing with her blonde hair staining it orange.

Her vision flowed in and out of haziness and she fought to stay conscious. She used the wall to climb to her feet and she reached for the bandages so she could get new ones that weren't soaking crimson liquid, but she slipped in a puddle of her own life essence and she fell forward ripping a gash up her arm with the corner of the counter, Serena cursed silently as she applied pressure on her new injury. Growling angrily, she got to her feet and got new bandages on her body. She wiped off the blood the best she could from her body and gingerly made her way out of the blood soaked bathroom leaving the blood and the hot bathe alone.

Throwing on a simple pair of jeans and long sleeved shirt, she grabbed her keys and headed towards her only safe heaven, the Crown. It was a little bit passed seven, usually the time when the cafe opens up and the arcade begins to get ready for the early game players. Locking the door behind herself, Serena made her way out of her apartment complex down the twisting roads that led towards the Crown.

Along the way she crossed paths with her old house, realizing she was making a habit of going by it on the way to the Crown. She stopped in front of the house outside the gate where 'Tsukino' was written on the name plate. She ran her hand over the metal entrance but soon stopped when something caught her eye. On the pavement of the sidewalk was a small bunny drawn in the corner of the cement with the name Serena scrawled above the picture. A small smile made a way to her lips as the memory floated through her mind.

She had just moved in with her mom and dad just before Sammy was born and with carrying in the refrigerator and the movers dropped in, shattering the pavement. Serena could have a made a bet that her dad had sworn more than a sailor would have ever dared to in their life in that day and have won. As the pavement was being put in and was still wet, Serena made the picture and wrote her name in the cement so that it would forever bear her name.

Apparently, the memories of her existence had been erased but her time spent on Earth hadn't been completely disappeared for she still bore her mark on the world. This gave Serena a renewed hope and she bounced her way towards the Crown with a excited swagger added in her step.

The doors swooshed open and the bell rang merrily in the early morning startling the aged teenager as he quietly cleaned the counters. As he caught sight of the frequenting blonde he gave a little wave as a greeting and flashed a small smile as he went back to cleaning the already sparkling counters. He was possessed to keep it shining at all times. Serena plopped down onto the bar stool and sighed happily as she propped her elbow up onto the table top and rested her head on her hand.

"Hey, Andrew." She giggled at the perplexed sandy blonde who stared at her stunned. Usually when Serena visited the place she was mostly gloomy and tired so seeing her happy for once brought a genuine smile to Andrew's face. They occasionally talked but he knew so little about her. She knew more about him then the other way around.

"The usual?" Andrew was already making the order as Serena nodded her consent, she was digging through her pocket for the money but as he placed the shake on the counter and slid it her way he raised his hand nodding his back and forth. "No, this is on the house. Its rare to see you happy. Tell me, what has you up and merry this early in the morning?" Andrew leaned against the counter and stared at her with patient eyes. She beamed at him with a radiant smile that it was almost blinding.

Serena leaned forward with her mouth open, seemingly ready to say something but she got closer to Andrew and kissed him on the cheek, which sent him backwards startled at her sudden action. He slapped his cheek as if he had been burned, "Wha-wha-what was that for?" He stuttered and she laughed at him as she wagged a finger at him. "Naught naughty little Andrew. You know me enough to not to ask questions." She teased but was actually very serious about that simple statement.

Andrew threw his head back and laughed kindheartedly. "That Is true, but come on Sere, tell me. What's got you so wound up? Is it a boy?" He was itching to know and Serena gave him a sincere look. She shook her head and her smile faded a little as she stared intently at her milkshake, lost in a sea of memories. "It is simple, Andrew." She started. Andrew waited, with all ears and eyes on her. " I am not lost to the world." She giggled as she took her milkshake and began to devour it.

Andrew looked at her confused. "Huh?" Was his only reply.

It was true though, the memories of her were gone, but she had been there once. She had been loved. She had lived life. She had left her mark on the world and the proof was all around her, as long as she looked.

Serena hadn't been truly forgotten.

_So what do you think? Review and tell me what you think._

_-Danni_


	4. Chapter 4: Always Pain

A Moon Never Clasped

By: Danni Lynn

Chapter 4: Always Pain

~+!Serena!+~

_So she remembers if only maybe a sense or feeling, but how? Wasn't it all taken away when the contract was complete?_ Serena shuddered despite the warmth of her surroundings, Andrew raised in eyebrow question, but it quickly went down as Serena flashed a grin his way. Andrew blushed and turned his gaze downward, scrubbing intently at the already shining counter. If it was anymore clean, it could blind someone, that thought caused Serena to giggle.

"Andrew." Serena drew out his name in a low and happy voice as she slid her fourth milkshake (empty in like 2 seconds) his way. He caught it without looking up. She stood and stretched enjoying the feeling of the light bathing her from the store's front windows. Though she had school she decided it would be a horrible way to spend such a magnificent day in such a dreadful prison that was only made to get children out of their parents' hair and to keep them from mooching to much money of them anyway (cheap parents).

Andrew paused realizing just what Serena had been dong for the past hour. "Sere! You naughty girl, you should be in school by now. Leave! I shall give you more milkshakes when you come back with something that you learned today." He went around the counter and dragged her out the front door, she only smiled as he failed to push her out of the Crown, somehow she was glued to the floor. "Now!" Andrew yelled as he gave her a final shove, she stumbled onto the sidewalk and watched as he locked the doors with his arms crossed, glaring at her.

Serena shrugged and gave a little wave goodbye as she set off to look for something. As she went someways down the street she saw a poster that read:

**40% off! Get your jewelery where its made the best!**

She smiled and walked back into the Crown. Andrew mumbled a hello but didn't look up, she sat down and ordered a milkshake, as he set it down in front of her, he then realized it was the very girl he had kicked out of the store no more than fifteen minutes ago. He was about to repeat the process again when he noticed that her order was no longer in his hand.

"You haven't even learned one thing! Get out now!" Andrew pleaded with her. She shook her head as her lips parted from the straw that was now sucking empty air. "Yeah, I have." Serena laughed as she set down the barren cup, while placing money down from her previous orders onto the counter. Andrew crossed his arms and gave a disdained frown. "What might that be?" He grumbled as he waited for an answer that he could pronounce as wrong.

Serena smiled innocently as she swayed her body back and forth on her tiptoes with her index finger held to her chin as she stared up at the ceiling thinking. As it came to her, she snapped her fingers and stared right at him and smirked. "Jared is having a sale for 40% off! Great price, might get me a new necklace or two!" Serena jumped up in excitement, as Andrew's face fell from its angered victory. "J-Jared's?" He stuttered as his tense body went slack with disbelief. Serena stopped and stared at him."Yeah, you know. '_**You can only get it at Jared's'**_." She waved a hand in front of his face as he looked out into the nothingness, then his face churned in rage.

Serena took a step backwards startled at his sudden anger, as his eyes swiveled to glare at her. Now it was her turn to stutter, "W-what?" She asked him, bewildered by the complete change in attitude. "I bought my sister her birthday gift yesterday at full price. There been no sale then! What the hell. I don't believe you!" Andrew growled as Serena shook her head in pity as she gave a sigh of relief. Pointing down the street past the window, Serena nodded her head that way. "Not a believer, huh? Go look yourself." She smirked at him. He tore off his apron and stomped his foot.

"I shall!" He yelled as he charged out the front door, bumping shoulder's with a person that was coming in. They both stared at the enraged monkey (Andrew) that was practically sprinting down the road. Serena shrugged and picked up the apron as the customer sat down on the stool previously Serena had been using. "What was his problem?" He asked as he glanced at his watch, Serena turned and gave a witty grin at the poor man that sat before her. It was time to let the game begin, Serena happily decided.

"Oh, you know, the normal young men with a child as a single-parent. He just went off to check on his beloved son. He forgot to give him his lunch so he dashed away to save his poor son from starvation!" Serena dramatically replied with an answer so far from the truth you just couldn't believe it, right? The customer sighed with a tone full of pity. "Children, these days can't keep what was given to them as a gift to themselves till the right age can they? What's in the pants stays in the pants, right? Poor guy, must be hard." The middle-aged man ran a hand through his graying hair. "Do you work here, miss?" He asked his face held with hope.

Serena stared at the apron and grinned. "Why, yes. Yes I do, in fact. What would like, Sir?" She put the apron and went behind the counter, she had been going to the Crown since she was a little girl, so she knew how to do things around there, she had helped a few times herself. "A coffee, please. Black with milk" He hung his head in his hands as he placed his elbows on the counter. His suit was faded and small. As Serena picked up a cup and pushed a button on the coffee dispenser, she glanced sideways at the depressed older gentleman that stared sullenly at the ground with a type of heaviness in his eyes.

"Life sucks sometimes doesn't it?" She stated as she began to pour some milk into the coffee, the man looked up surprised to hear her speak, his eyes softened and he gave a grieving smile. "Sure does." His tone was no more happier than his pained expression.

"Might tell a passing stranger? It helps lighten the load." She told him, as she placed the warm coffee in front of him, steam rose up into the air, its grounded scent mixing in with the smell of dust and plastic. The man nodded his head as he picked up the cup by the handle. "Well, I just got fired at my job at the same time my wife died and I just can't find any work that wants to take me." He sighed once more as he watched the swirling darkness of the brewed coffee.

Serena nodded as if in mutual understandings, she gave the man a complete look over and shook her head, sadly. The man stared at her, confused. "What?"

He asked with a bit of annoyance, she held up her hands defensively. "Well, its just..." She stopped as she waved a hand over him, indicating his appearance. "No offense, but you look like shit and your fucking depressing. I'm just being honest." She laughed, the man at first looked offended but when he looked himself over he sighed heavily and nodded in agreement, then he smiled up at Serena.

"Your right, I do look like shit and I am depressing! Yeah, time to go get that shitty job for this fucking depressing person!" He chugged down the coffee, that Serena stared at him a bit amazed as he ran out the door, but before he made it outside, Andrew came walking in with his head hung, the man placed a hand on his shoulder causing Andrew to lift his head, the man gave him a thumb's up. "You care a lot about your boy. Take good care of him." With that said, the man disappeared in the morning, getting ready to set his life straight.

Andrew stared at Serena, "Who the hell was that?" Serena shrugged as she cleaned the counter, with Andrew sitting down on the stool. She put away the money the man had given her into the cash register, "Some crazy man." She answered as she took off the apron and sat next to him.

"I don't like work. I quit." She got up and walked out of the Crown having already lost interest in the arcade. Andrew watched her leave, just simply blinking not understanding at all where the situation had went. Sad to say but he never saw that poster that she had said she saw. Serena lied.

The sky was only covered in so many clouds that they hung loosely in the atmosphere, they were thinned out that you could see through them anyway. The sun beat down on Serena's shoulders' that her body heat went up a couple of degrees. She just kept running down the park's sidewalk, enjoying peoples' laughter and the sound of chirping birds as a kind of lull like trance to keep her mind from thinking about those negative thoughts that always seemed to haunt to her.

She had gone home and changed into her normal running clothes. She had made a habit out of it, it just made her feel...unchained to all the boundaries that she had been cursed to follow. Of course, that had been her decision as well.

The cool air was warm on her skin as her heart accelerated in its haste to keep up with her body's movement. As she made her way out of the park, she caught sight of the river that led through the middle of the city, dividing it into two, deciding to go a different route, she turned and strayed off near the water. It had been a couple of months since the last heavy rainfall, so the water had barely rose on the last night's storm causing the water level to be only ankle deep.

Serena stood at the edge of the bank, staring at her own reflection, realizing she, herself, had grown as in maturity and as well as physically.

Yet, her features were daunted with a kind of wisdom that one usually only receives with years worth of mistakes. Her bright smile had dimmed to a fake grin, her seemly endless amount of happiness was now nothing more than a rare occasion. At times she was short-tempered and cruel but for the most part she no longer knew what her true light meant. In some ways she had become Galaxia's slave.

Serena frowned, her mirror image doing the same, losing interest in her appearance, she bent low and jumped high. At first it felt like time had slowed and the sky expanded, bright and bigger as she rose higher and higher into the air. With the training of being a scout her jumping abilities far exceeded that of a normal human's. She could win the Olympics highest jump with a mere kick off the ground.

The force of gravity was never forgiving to those that defied the rules, slamming Serena hard onto her feet, her stomach leaping into her throat for a brief couple of minutes. She flipped in the air and kicked off in the water for another leap that only extended in length, pushing her a couple feet away from her original landing spot.

The water splashed too slow that she was already jogging in the ankle deep river as the drops landed back within the original body mass. Her shoes were now soaked and she felt her sweat making her shiver but she just kept going, enjoying the feel of the world and its universe that tied all things together, one truly never disappearing without the other.

"Hey!" The voice was lost to Serena's mind as her thoughts dragged her further and further into her own self consciousness, leaving the physical world on a spiritual plane. At one moment it appeared as if she was lost to the vast space of the universe, but like all good things (weird strange things) they must end. So as Serena was thinking that she felt like she was flying she hit a thing called Earth. Hard.

Her pace had slowed so much that she was practically speed walking as she fought to keep her breath, she tripped over a rock in the water and stubbed her toe.

At first it appeared that to her that the world was moving but in reality she had just fell, as the cold water soaked into her dripping clothes and she face planted the ground, she realized she had just tripped.

Sighing angrily, she gingerly made her way up in a sitting position, irritated that she had just scrapped her elbow. Being careful not to move to much she wiped her bleeding elbow on her shirt and picked up her floating shoes. Without noticing the lone figure that was waving frantically at her from the bank she tossed her shoes onto the bay as she ripped her now useless head phones out of her ears.

"Damn." She growled as she made her way to the main land, while staring at her soaked Ipod not taking heed of the figure that was racing towards her. She forced her way through the shallow water and continuously cleaned her elbow of her blood.

She was having such a nice run and it was ruined by a simple trip to the river. Picking up her drenched shoes she stared blankly at her music device before her brows furrowed in rage and she looked the other way, throwing her Ipod in the other direction, no longer interested in using the now portable paper-weight.

"Ow." Was the reply instead of a nice loud clang of the Ipod hitting the ground, Serena spun around in surprise, finally taking notice of the concerned man that had been trying to achieve in winning her attention for the last few minutes.

"Oh, gosh. I'm so sorry." She embarrassingly answered as she hurried to the man's side. His sunglasses were cracked and he clutched his head in pain as he tried to blink away the bits of broken plastic from his eye, while he firmly gripped Serena's Ipod in his left fist. She stood there awkwardly not knowing what to do as she chewed the side of her cheek, nervous what the man might say.

"I think this is yours miss-?" The man paused unsure of Serena's name, as he rubbed his sore eye and took of his sunglasses. Serena nodded in understanding and opened her mouth to speak, unable to meet the man's repudiate stare, but as she tried to look at something past him, theirs eyes immediately locked.

Her voice leaped from her throat into her stomach and for a moment she knew not of on how to speak, for she was captured by the brilliance of the steely, ice, gray eyes that seemingly peered into her soul; her heart where all those buried secrets were burdened weighing heavily upon the shattered remains. "Tsukino. Serena Tsukino." She blinked and shook her head, as she tried hard to focus on something other than his eyes, afraid she could get lost in the darkness of his silver irises.

She smiled as she stuck out her hand for him to shake. He took her hand and placed the Ipod in her palm, refusing to take her hand in his as a show of mutual understanding. "My sunglasses." He interrupted as Serena looked at her tingling hand, that had the fainting marks of the man's warmth. "Huh?" She looked up dazed, he sighed angrily as he waved his broken glasses in front of her, at first she was confused but then it sunk in.

"Oh,no! I'm sorry, here's all the money I have. Go get yourself a new one." She rummaged through her dripping pockets and pulled out a soggy twenty and some change out her shorts, placing her winnings in his open palm, as she nip-picked the sunglasses out of his waiting hand. She opened them and placed them on the bridge of her nose as she looked around. "I like them. I think I'll wear them more often." She laughed as she spun around in a circle and curtsied. "My dear sir, I must say, You look absolutely splendid this evening." She giggled as she twirled in a circle.

The man's cold gaze glared at her dancing figure, burning holes any place his eyes landed. His rigid body strained against the stretched cotton of his black shirt. His frown seemed almost natural on his desolate features. He appeared to be extremely hard to approach.

"I feel like a crook in the way you gave me the money. Jeez, what were you doing in the water in the first place, Miss Tsukino?" His attempt to joke was halfhearted and icy, but Serena smiled thankfully in return. "I don't really know. I just was." She replied as she placed her Ipod in her pocket and wrung out her dripping hair.

The man smirked as he chuckled in a low voice, "You just were.", as Serena caught sight of the way his lip curved upward ever so slightly that it was taunting and imitating at the same time caused her to stumble to the ground in surprise. He caught her before she hit the ground, as they were caught in an unsuspected embrace, Serena locked their gaze once more and muttered in a small, scared voice, "Darien."

Taken aback, by the sudden guess of his name and the way that it was correct, the man let her go and stepped away, leaving the shocked girl alone on the ground, her clothes drenched and her beaten body bleeding in places that were not revealed. "Um, yes. That is my name. Do I know you?" The ebony haired man stuttered, unable to place her face in any of his known memories.

Flustered, Serena jumped to her feet, "Good guess, I suppose. Sorry, its just...that you look liked someone I use to know. A long time ago." She answered breaking the awkward atmosphere by turning on her heel and jogging away in the early afternoon sun. Leaving a very confused ex-fiance that at one time had been engaged to when she was no more than a love-sick sixteen year old. She was almost eighteen and would be able to quit school to get a job and find a way to fix everything. She would start with Galaxia.

It scared her to no ends, how someone could change in such a way that it was almost frightening to see. Darien had been such a kind and caring person to anyone that he had met, he was nice and considerate and would listen to anything you had to say, but now he was cold and distant. He was still caring and kind but he deprived himself on any admission to get close to anyone. His gentile features were now sharp and rigid. His blue eyes were so pale they were a shade of gray in a bright, clear day.

A year had changed everything Serena had known to such a degree that her own homeland appeared to be a foreign place. Nothing was the same. Not the place. Not the people. Not even herself.

What had she done? These were not the same people she had shared her laughter and smiles with. This was not the same place she had strolled leisurely upon, as she lived her life in happiness. The worst, she wasn't the same person either, she felt empty and hollow when before she had been so happy that it hurt at times.

Her smile was frozen in time.

Her heart no longer shared the same joyous tune.

Her body was far from equate of the normal species she had once lived among.

She had changed.

They had changed.

What was the same anymore?

Serena sighed as she collapsed on a near by bench, suddenly feeling weak. Her throat parched as her clothes dripped with water, in a moment Serena felt as if her clothes would suffocate her. She forgot to breathe for a moment as the space continuum paused for the briefest of moments just before the world faded.

She clenched her teeth as the feeling of falling wove around her, she felt weightless and heavy all at the same time. It was pressing down around her, all walls closing in to fast. Her chest squeezed in fear as her voice was lost to the abyss. No where to be found.

At first she was at a loss for words but when she hit the ground with an echoing thud, her body rippled with pain and she slammed her eyes shut in agony. Warm, hot blood began to seep from her deep wounds as she gingerly sat up, rubbing her aching head, shaking it slightly trying to rid of the dancing stars before her eyes.

As she took in her focus she felt her heart leap in fear as the galaxy moved about in their starry skies, unaware of those who ruled it which would be the figured that stood in the pentacle of the universe, her master. Galaxia glared at her cowering figure and crossed her arms in an arrogant stance while smirking slightly, downsizing the small, weak girl that was clutching her bleeding back in an attempt to stanch what could possibly kill her, lack of blood.

"Serena, oh poor, poor, Princess Serenity, where has all your glory gone?" Galaxia mocked, taunting her, baiting her into her awaiting hands. "Master Galaxia, what do I owe my dear mistress' time for?" Serena humbly crawled into a respectful bow, with her knees tucked up to her chest and her head bent low enough that her forehead touched the ground. Galaxia laughed with admission, pleased at the groveling past princess and future queen.

"What is wrong with seeing my little pet for a change?" She barked out with amusing joy, as her eyes sparkled maliciously in the eerie glow of the stars. Red hair flowed around her like a cloak as her golden tunic protected her from harm, shielded from any element. Her lavished sword was well made, but always thirsty for blood at an admonishing rate that it pulsed with an enticing pull, drawing any near into a killing frenzy with a hunger that is not of their own.

"No, my master." Serena grumbled in an sullen tone that spoke of loathing and pain. Blood dripped from her shirt and pooled around her legs, as Serena fought to stay conscious. The lack of blood, sleep, and food was doing a number on her, but any hell that she was going through was a deed good of a fair price as long as her friends were happy and alive. Living the lives they had dreamed of, living the lives that Serena begged them to follow, living the lives that would never be for their forgotten princess.

"Cocky, aren't we today? First, almost giving away your identity and second, nearly disobeying my orders. I would have to say you are fit to receive a formidable punishment, eh, Princess Serenity?" Galaxia circled her dangerously like a lioness would do to their trapped prey, waiting in silence and hunger as their prey smelled of fear knowing with all their hearts they are to die from a beast that stands far superior than that of their own. Serena was scared, but she was brave as well, but it would be in vain to be wasted on the woman, no...monster that stood before her with looming height, staring her down with maroon eyes that whispered of threat and violence.

Serena bit her lip not daring herself to trust her tongue, trying as hard as she might as not to further in debt herself in her torment. Her wrists were bound by a golden wrist shackles that held white diamonds in the middle as did her choker. They only appeared when she was sailor moon or in the realm of negaspace. The white diamonds pulsed with power not of her own, but of the terrible hag that stood mockingly above her.

Galaxia had punished Serena many times before but each was just horrible in its own way. So she never knew what to expect, at one point Serena nearly died when she tried go against her orders on collecting star-seeds and as for a 'good' punishment, Galaxia decided she was gonna try to crucify Serena with rusty nails and a cross. Serena had to push her body through the nails to get free otherwise she would have starved and no longer been able to move, but later Galaxia caught her and hung her for being a 'naughty girl for cheating'. Serena had scars from the crucifying and her neck still held marks from the rope as it dug deep into her skin. That was a miserable time indeed, she wouldn't speak for weeks after that.

"Stand up my child, for I wish show you the errors of you ways." Galaxia commanded with a tone that spoke of authority, Serena stood up as she was asked, begging silently that her punishment wouldn't hurt so much. God could at least grant her that one last plea, wouldn't he? Galaxia drew her sword and without one word or visible movement, Serena was on the ground, stabbed through the heart all the way. The sword went in her left breast and came out under her left shoulder blade. Just to add to her amusement, Galaxia twisted the sword in a complete three-sixty degree angle.

Serena, made no sound, just took her punishment in strides, her master had done much worse, this was like a blessing. To handle the agonizing, death defying, insanity of pain that bolted through her burning veins was the one thought that she always kept at the foremost front of her mind: _As long as my friends are happy, as long as they are alive an well, I can handle any hell and any pain._ That was her drive, her power, had she not the strength of will of a thousand men to live for others she would have long since been dead.

"Oh dear, you think this is your punishment? Of course not you silly girl! This is merely a restraint." Galaxia laughed at the look of complete panic and fear that besieged Serena's cerulean eyes. "No, Princess, I want you to see, feel and know, hell in every form and shape. This one was one I thought of carefully, as to make amends for what you did." She continued in a voice that caused Serena to shrink beneath her skin and her throat leap to her stomach. She felt like she was going to be sick.

"Let's start with...your dreams, lady dearest." A small mirror boarded with gold and white framing suddenly appeared in front of her master. Galaxia gave her a cruel smile before she took a bounding leap into a mirror that did but all of absorb her. She was looking into Serena's dreams, finding anything useful as too crush the wretched girl.

God, had not answered Serena's plea.

~+!Mina!+~

The white winged angel was by far the most puzzling occurrence that had ever happened in Mina Aino's uneventful life. The winged girl appeared eerily familiar but she kept that odd coincidence to herself. For the angelic child of god was determined for Mina and her fellow scouts not to die, of that she was sure. It was just the way, the girl handled herself and the look in her eyes...as if she was going to fall apart but protect something in the mean while.

Who was this girl, friend of foe?

Mina was lenient on saying that this girl was an ally but she was walking on thin ice that could give way at any moment. If she were to tread upon dangerous waters then she would do it with facts and knowledge. She had let people die on her account before because she had been naive to use opinion over logic.

Things had finally quieted down for practically a year an a half, then suddenly you have youmas in the city and a sudden savior that comes out of no where? Coincidence? No, that would not be the case. The youmas and the winged girl are related.

Though what was most confusing was not the appear and occurrence of the latest person, but what the person had said. Rolling over onto her stomach, Mina hung halfway of Lita's bed,glaring down at the beige green carpet that was stainless free. Rei sat on the edge of the window pane, that looked out onto the city below, one leg dangled uselessly on the side of the wall as the other was bent to keep balance as not to fall through the open window that stood twenty stories up.

Lita worked as a chief apprentice for some four star restaurant in Tokyo while working at a gas station on the outskirts of the city, so Lita makes some fair amount of money at the age of eighteen. So she lived quiet well for someone so young on their own in the world. She was baking cookies in the kitchen as a snack for everyone while Amy was sprawled across the couch in the living room, reading some book.

As Mina pondered onto why the girl had said such a puzzling thing, she spoke her musings out loud, breaking the silence of the rigid Rei. "She said she was happy." Mina told Rei, who shrugged as she never moved her eyes from the always moving city. "What do you think she meant?" Rei answered with her own question, as a warm breeze whispered for telltale signs of the fast approaching summer.

Mina sighed as she released a long drawn breath, "I don't know, but what she said about, not letting us die...I don't know...I just...believe her." Mina stuttered as she glanced sideways, waiting to see Rei's reaction, who snapped her head at her in surprise. "You trust her? You don't know her, plus she might be the enemy!" She began but she just shook her head before she turned back towards the window. "Don't trust those who don't deserve to be trusted." She muttered under her breath before she went silent.

Mina stared at her startled by the outburst of emotion. Sure, Rei was one to be short-tempered, but she always went about it in a calm, collected way. Never allowing to much emotion to appear into her eyes. This was a change, Mina thought never to believed to have seen in the distant girl.

Immediately, Amy raced through the doorway, obviously had heard Rei's yell looking frazzled and bewildered. Stray hair fell into her wild eyes, as she frantically scanned the room, looking for any possible signs of danger. With a released breath, her shoulders sagged and she wiped a hand across her sweating brow.

Mina raised an eyebrow at the two, Amy showing signs of concern and fear? And Rei, showing anything other than a quick burst of temper and cool, collected features? Mina wasn't the only one who had that little devil, angel on her mind.

Bouncing off the bed, Mina raced to Amy's side, who stood swaying in the dim light of the hallway with pain scrawled across her face. It only been two months since they found out Amy's little secret and had decided to ignore it the best they could, but Amy was getting thinner.

Amy was always a worrier for others but whenever it came to her, it was nothing of a concern to those who cared for her. She was nice and cool headed, never letting others see her frightened and startled side. It was an image she pushed to maintain, it worked for the most part but Mina could see through her like an open window. She knew something had been wrong for about a year and a half but couldn't tell what it was, so when Amy told them it was just as a surprise for anyone but not as big as a shock.

Amy leaned into Mina body, as she panted for air and kept a stern grip on the blonde, afraid she might fall if she were to let go. When Mina led Amy to the bed, Rei was right there pulling the sheets out as the fragile doll was placed carefully onto the bed and snugged warmly beneath the covers.

Mina gripped Amy's hand tightly as she wheezed for air that was always going but never coming. Rei sat on the bed and delicately brushed away the brittle hair that hung loose over Amy's face. Her body seized in pain, she whimpered in remorse for her curt actions as Rei averted her gaze, knowing she was to blame. If Amy moved to fast and her heart pumped to wildly, she tires herself out and her body squeezes with cramps as the heart fails to keep up with the living body.

Mina leaned forward and kissed the top of Amy's hand and gently petted it before she stood and let go, letting Rei assume her position over Amy. They had grown close as the years went by, so she took the news as the greatest shock of all. Mina had sat by Rei's side many a night holding her and whispering soothing lies as to calm that torn soul. Rei was so broken that she clung desperately to what she had left.

With no family and living with a grandfather that was never home, Rei often got lonely at the temple praying for someone to save her and love her. Even though Lita and Mina loved the girl to no ends, they weren't connect liked she and Amy was. Amy lived in a orphanage because her parents had died when she was very young.

It was a double suicide with the small child that was of Amy standing there watching. It had scarred her deeply, that had changed her forever. If she was alive knowing people were dying out there, she couldn't live with herself. So in doing the opposite with what her parents had did, instead of taking lives, she was going to save them.

And in that, Rei had found solace in Amy and her passion for wanting to be a doctor. They understood each other so well when Mina and Lita only understood so much. Rei had prayed for people to love her and she had found them. Amy had prayed for the lives of people she could not save and so she touched them with her heart, making them to understand things they had once feared. Their prayers had been answered, but fate was never to be one called fair.

As life had taken something from them, they had grown stronger and in return they got what they wished, but destiny had plans for the two in two separate ways. One would not walk the same path as the other, their bound hands would be severed and their shadows would linger behind them, joined briefly together before, once again, they stood alone.

If god could be so cruel to innocent people, then what chance did Mina stand for her own happiness?

Mina sauntered out of the room and into the kitchen, standing over Lita's shoulder as she breathed in the smell of freshly baked cookies. Lita didn't move, already used to the creepy girl that always came out of nowhere unexpectedly when food was near. "Yummy." Mina muttered beneath her breath, enjoying the aroma of peanut butter, chocolate chip cookies. "Your gonna get fat one day, if you keep eating the way you do." Lita sighed forlornly, as Mina spun into her sight of vision, shaking her head mischievously, Mina leaned forward toward Lita's ear as if she were about to share a secret. "Then who would eat all those delicious sweets you make?"

Lita barked with laughter as Mina caught her in a corner, she was right, who would eat her cookies? Amy was a light eater, and Rei barely ever ate sweets, saying it was bad for her teeth. "Alright, alright, you eat my cookies, but heat up the curry I made last night and eat it first. Don't want to spoil your appetite." She ordered and Mina obeyed.

As Mina fished through the frig, Lita dropped her voice low as she opened the oven and checked the cookies. "How is Amy? She doing alright? I saw her bolt from the living room so I got worried." Mina paused and her eyes watered slightly as she looked away. "Not well, Lita...not well, at all. Shes sick and I...can't help her. Its hard." Mina choked as she let the cool air wisp around her, entangling her in a freezing snare. At one point, she wanted to shrink so small that nobody could see how scared she was for Amy. How frightened that reality was taking away one of her best friends from her.

Lita nodded sadly, she got the pain. They were all feeling it, but they tried their best not to show in front of the strong willed girl. If she saw how frightened they were for her, she would just make it worse by acting like she was healthy and complete again. She would only tire herself out.

They were all suffering, so they put a straight face and made the most out of things with the time they had. They had time, but Amy didn't. She wasn't being given what she should have, she did no wrong to anybody, she gave people hope when they had none, shared faith with those who had lost it, and loved those of whom are dying. Though they may have died and been long since dead, but they had made Amy who she was and each one of them hadn't been forgotten in that girl's heart.

As the silence grew, a shriek erupted from the neighboring room and both heads shot up at the same time. Mina and Lita shared a startled look, before they spun on their heels and darted into the master bedroom, where a screaming Rei and a spasmodic Amy awaited. Forgetting the curry and cookies.

Rei clung desperately to the tiny frame of a small girl as limbs jerked violently in any direction, occasionally smacking the crying girl. Amy's eyes stared blankly at the ceiling as her body twitched this way and that. Lita ran over and scooped up the girl in her arms and was racing towards the door as Rei followed suite with phone in hand and prayers spewing constantly from her mouth.

They were on a mission to save Amy.

Mina was not.

She stood in the darkness of the room, letting the cold atmosphere swallow her. It was not fear that had frozen her, but the fact that she was not needed that served her as an excuse. She would always stay by Amy's side but Rei would always be of the better choice, while Lita would always remain as the resilient one, if you needed her she would be there to help you stand, but Mina?

Mina had nothing. What good was she to anyone?

Sure, she was the leader of the scouts, but that only meant that she would make decisions and be the one with the idea. In life? Mina was just a poor excuse of a slut, she flaunted herself everywhere to get anybody's attention, but even that failed. She was not the strong one. She was not the smart or independent one. Nor was she the one that could make you smile.

What one was Mina?

Sighing sadly, she headed towards the door as she grabbed her keys and locked the apartment behind her. As she entered the elevator, Darien stood before her with his black work coat hung over his left shoulder. He glared at something past her, not seeing Mina as she entered the tiny compartment. The doors closed with a quite swoosh as the elevator made its descent down.

"Tsukino Serena, huh?" Darien muttered low under his breath as Mina coughed to get his attention. He spun around startled as he stumbled backwards abit surprised at the sudden appearance of Mina. "What about Tsukino?" Mina narrowed her eyes in a mocking bad cop/ good cop fashion. She met Tsukino yesterday and she was already liking the girl more than she should have for someone that wasn't part of the sailor scouts. It wasn't an exclusive club or anything, it just...never end well when your fighting enemies none stop.

Darien nodded as he kept his mouth clamped shut as silence grew over them. It was late in the night as they headed for ground level. It felt like hours before Darien spoke again. "You know her?" He asked as he pulled his coat on and loosened his neck tie, letting it fall onto his bare chest as his buttoned shirt was only buttoned to the crevice of his chest. Mina rocked on her heels as she nibbled quietly on her tongue, she always did like Darien, he was a total hottie but he was always looking at Rei and never saw Mina as anything other than a friend. "Yeah, she's a transfer student in some of my classes, met her yesterday and I already think of her as a close friend. Strange, huh? Anyway, how do you know her?" Mina flipped the question and Darien shrugged as an unusual smile traced his thin lips. Mina stared in shock.

"She was running in the water, when she tripped and fell. Broke my sunglasses. Klutz, she is. Wasn't much, but she was nice enough to pay me back for the glasses." Darien answered as his eyes gave way to something other than driven determination. He was smart and cool, as well as a complete hunk, but he never got close to anyone. This was a another change that surprised Mina that night.

Who was this Tsukino girl? What about that winged angel?

Were they somehow related?

Shrugging of the silly notion and twinge of jealousy she felt for her new found friend, Mina walked out of the apartment complex with Darien right on her heels. "Where is Lita? I haven't seen her lately." Darien and Lita live in the same apartment complex as well as next door neighbors, but they were both so caught up in their own lives that they rarely saw each other besides the battlefield and early in the morning every so often. Mina felt her heart squeeze in pain at the remembrance of Amy and how fragile and frail she had looked as Lita carried her away. "Amy had an attack, so Lita and Rei took her to the hospital." Mina solemnly told him as they walked down the road together, heading towards where ever. Mina didn't want to go home, so she was heading towards the store, Darien was just heading in the same direction.

"Why aren't you with them?" He mused as they entered the store together. Mina shrugged and she tried to appear nonchalant but inside it felt like she was screaming. "They don't need me." She murmured the truth as Darien glanced at her with a stern passion, she had never noticed before. "Of course they need you. Your Mina." His reply was one she had already heard before, she raised an eyebrow as her irritation grew. "What makes me, Mina?" She implied, daring to ask what she was once before afraid to voice. Darien became silent, as Mina picked up some chips and a coke.

"Your important to them. What makes you Mina is your honesty and caring personality. Your beside someone not because you have to be, but because you want to be. What makes you Mina is the fact that you can fall and get right back up with a smile plastered on your face at all times. What makes you Mina, is your love." Darien's tone was serious and stern that made her heart skip a beat. He looked right in her eyes as he said it, they both knew that each word was true. Mina gave him a sweet smile as she bought her snacks and headed out the door.

Suddenly a shock rippled through Darien's body as he clutched his chest in excruciating pain, he fell to his knees panting for air, letting the pain take its course and ebb away. Once he gained control, he looked up at Mina and they nodded heads as they raced towards wherever Darien felt the explosion. She trailed behind them as she hurriedly ate her snacks, cramming it down her throat before she went off to battle.

When they got there though, what they saw was something rather explicit. Horror swept through Mina as she tried to keep tears from springing down her cheeks.

Life was never fair.

_Okkk...I finally finished this...not the best of my work and not a lot of action but u gotta have some boring chapters in a story, right? Please review..._

_-Danni_


	5. Chapter 5: Dreams of the Forsaken

A Moon Never Clasped

By: Danni Lynn

Chapter 5: Dreams of the Forsaken

"_**And out of the ashes, she came like a beacon of light.**_

_**But, like every spark, she went out in the wake of the night."**_

~+!Serena+!~

_An orange blaze hung low in the sky as brilliant yellow spiraled over red in an pinkish haze as the fading blue of the pond slowly became a murky brown in the water below. The wind tussled ebony hair into parting to the left, hovering lightly over the left eye of a 6'5" tall man. Hunching over a blonde covered frame, their shadows interlocked as they stretched far behind them._

_Gazing lovingly into each others eyes, no words needed to be said, to know how much their bond ran deep through their emotions. If one were to die, then surely, the other would as well. To be interlocked by the same strings._

"_Oh, Darien, I love you." The tiny woman whispered to the overbearing man she called Darien. A slight smile quirked the edges of his lips as he put his hand to her face and gently caressed it. Opening his mouth to speak, his sapphire eyes bored lovingly into hers murmuring his untold secrets to her, but suddenly they widened in dismay as gruff hands lean forcefully on her chest, knocking her away._

_Scrapping up her skin as she fell onto her butt, the blonde could only stare in horror as her lover's eyes glazed over with a look of surprise forever placed in the depths of his steely gaze. Face paling to an ashy white, he weakly lifted his arm reaching for her. Leaning forward, she tried to grasp his hand, but by mere inches his hand strained for a second then went limp, falling uselessly to his side, unmoving._

"_No." His voice trailed off on the wind as his head bent down, as a strangled choke passed between his lips. Following his shocked stare, the blonde quickly pin pointed the reason of the turn of events as the gleam of crimson shone brightly in the fading light. Blood poured quickly onto the darkening concrete filling the cracks and crevices of the stone, as the blonde felt her heart squeeze in agony._

_As the body began to grow cold, in the center of her lover's chest was a fist. That held Darien's still beating heart in its palm. Giving it a tight squeeze, the heart burst like a balloon as ember splattered her face and clothes. Drenching her in Darien's life essence. _

"_No." She whispered as she bent forward and softly touched Darien's shirt, giving it a hard tug. The body slumped towards the ground, as the penetrating hand slowly withdrew out of Darien's chest. A chilling laugh filled the quiet void of space as the woman's gaze traveled upward at the standing figure that rested one booted foot on top of Darien's bleeding back. "Galaxia."_

_Golden hues glared down crudely at the blonde like goddess, scrutinizing her in much of a judgmental manner. Enjoying her insulting thoughts, the brazen monster clad in silver armor quirked her lips in a Cheshire grin, bestowing the sun-haired woman to quiver in what may seem to some like anger, to others in fear. "Now my dear, poor Serena, is that anyway to treat your master? I _**own**_ you. Don't you dare to think otherwise."_

_Eyes widening in dismay, Serena hung her head in defeat, unable to understand why her beloved laid dead at this woman's feet. "'I thought he was invincible'" She unknowingly murmured her thoughts aloud, while she tried to organize her incoherent mind. Flicking her eyes back up at Galaxia, she glared stunned at the woman that dared try to have a right to own her. _

"_He would be invincible, if only you didn't exist, he would still be alive." Galaxia bent down and whispered into her ear. Staring intently at the blood that soaked the ground glistening in the faint moonlight, Serena could only agree in utter defeat._

_He did die because it was her fault, right?_

Dazed, she watched the infinite darkness stretch before her in endless shadows, whispering and muttering all her secrets and lies. Telling her over again and again what she dread to bear;

reality.

Illuminated by its own shine, the crimson flow dribbled eerily from her left breast in an gory fashion as it dripped slowly from her white uniform, puddling around her.

A golden hilt, encrusted with diamonds and other luxurious things unknown to the human world, stood at the base of Serena's chest twisting her insides with sharp razors. Protruding from her back and embedded deep into the ground below her, pain was not the word to describe her emotions and raging fire that burned every molecule in her petite frame.

Half-lidded eyes ripped open as her pupils shrunk as a searing roar erupted from the princess of the moon, the slave of a superior master, the child forgotten from the world. Existent to non-other than herself, she lived alone, survived alone, made do by herself. This blonde, this girl went to hell screaming and kicking, and went she got out she turned around with a click of her heel and embraced it with arms wide-open, not for herself as of an escape but for the well-beings of her beloved.

How noble is this forgotten child?

Yet,

how foolish is she, as well?

Clutching the darkness, trying to grip something that wasn't there, Serena shrieked out in agony as her voice soon became raw from screaming. Eyes dilating and azure blue became nothing but a ring surrounding a black abyss, her yelling ceased and her arched back relaxed, only causing more blood to spill around the hilt of the blade.

_Drip! Drip! Drip! _

Gazing out into oblivion, Serena laid pinned to the ground by a sword that was burning her insides with flames as her expression dulled from any sign of life.

Flowing from the corners of her eyes, a few tears trickled out and ran down the side of her face, giving her a reminder that even though she was forgotten, does not mean, she, herself, had forgotten.

How far had she gone for people that no longer knew that she existed?

How would they ever remember?

_Long before humans ruled the Milky-way galaxy as a superior being far beyond any intellectual figure, there were many races that dueled to own the galaxy, via the universe. Yet, only one race stood among the many others as a high individual, they were known as the Lunairians. They were acknowledged to be kind and loving as well as beautiful and strong. _

_Cunningly, the King of the Lunairians, Jericho, battled each and every king of the solar system in an arena, all of them against him. The arena was placed on the home of the Earthlings, where King Elis resided. The Earthlings were greedy and dishonest, yet the King of them, was quite the opposite. Refusing to fight in the battle, Elis requested that whomever wins the tournament that their first-born princess marry the next male heir in the Earthling line._

_King Elis slyly knew that if this were to happen, then Earth would be the main kingdom over the universe. Since King Apollo of the sun had been burned alive by his own naivete, his entire planet perished in a matter of a hundred years. Since then, the galaxy had been at war with each other, since all treaties had been bound to the King of the planet, Sun. A millennium later, King Jericho rose from the ashes and held this tournament that everyone scoffed and believed would be a waste of their so-called precious time._

_With his own hand-made blade, Lite, Jericho quickly eliminated all his enemies with his sharpness and speed. In two years time he won the tournament after receiving a rather recent illness that took a turn for the worst after the birth of his first and only child, Princess Selene. During the time of his recent achievement and death, he was implicated as the King of the universe as his kingdom began to thrive. Though there were rather meager squabbles with King Ares and King Uranus over the complete domination of authority and power, Jericho wasted no time in putting them in their place._

_As Jericho's illness dragged on for years, his daughter, Selene, brutally murdered her father with his own sword, Lite, as to have power over the Lunairian kingdom. It was either marry the Earthling prince or death of her father. King Elis' son became harshly cruel after his own father's passing and ran rampant with fury all over his kingdom, doing rather morbid childish deceits to his fellow Earthlings._

_The surprise of the repugnant princess going so far as the murder of kin to gain liability and control of the empire not only set fear into all of the planets' heirs but some mutual respect as well for the distaste of favoring marriage to an Earthling. To say in the least, that King Elis and Jericho's promise went in vain is a lie, for it did become set in stone but not after many many years._

_Queen Selene of the Milky-way galaxy was rather implicitly childish with fairness and kindness but was rather harsh to those that deceived or refused orders._

_The planets' grew to highly respect the bloody beauty for she was all that was and was not a queen._

_She was crude. She was clumsy. She was stubborn. She was fair. She was passionate. She was sinister. She was one track minded. She was: _

_Selene._

_She ruled one hand with an iron the fist , while she stretched her arms wide open. Welcoming the hated and the loved. After some time as Queen, the Venusian King Virgil took the young Lunairian's heart and soon enough they had two children. Serenity and Vulcan. Losing interest in Virgil, Selene cut off all ties she had with the Venusian and returned back to her kingdom on the moon, leaving behind her only son, Vulcan, to be the next heir of Venus. Having no complaints in the sudden departure, Virgil was only left heartbroken to take care of his heir with his concubines._

_To the Lunairians' disbelief and regret, Selene brought only her daughter, Serenity, from Venus and raised her alone. Wanting only females to rule the universe, Selene was set onto having all heirs of the moon to be girls and nothing more, for they were truly much more compassionate then the males. _

_At one point in time, Ares' son, Augustus, reprimanded Selene for confining the Marshian race to be limited and pulled from the High Arc round table as a rightful planet. Honoring the normally timid Augustus, Mars soon became the general of war if such a thing was ever needed. Given a Higher Arc seat in the round table of the solar system, Augustus became increasingly popular among the representatives of the Chairs. There were rumors of Mars over throwing the moon for ruler of the utopia empire, as to put to silence of such talk, Selene brought Augustus to a dual, winner becomes King or Queen._

_Though the Marshians were highly praised on their fighting abilities they completely lacked the common need of brains and sense, alas, no matter how bright Augustus was, Selene was much more cunning and sly to win the match. She won with no fingers raised, metaphorically speaking anyway. _

_As the planet Earth was rounding a collapse of revolution onto the verge of destruction, Selene rushed right in and saved them, using her Lunairian healing powers to shed light on their darkening doorstep. That light quickly set the Earth from its era of sadism to an era of rebirth._

_Such a feat, took a mighty toll on the Queen of the universe, Selene, dying on her death-bed, she brought her daughter into power and enforced a law that would forever change the way of the universe. She decreed hours before she passed that all female princesses be strictly trained as a warrior to protect the surviving heir of the empire, whether it was of Lunairian lineage or a different race all together and that all princes must marry off to a ruling heir to keep the sacracy of pure blood. _

_The death of Selene completely left an imprint on everyone's heart for that the Queen, as cruel as she could be, was much more passionately kinder than any king ruled by the planets. To honor her memory, they gave her the title as the goddess of the moon and obeyed her law. Though it was awkward and strange for the roles of prince and princess to be reversed, it certainty caused a much more stabilized environment of peace through the empire, even Earth had a time of such a tranquilized period._

_Soon enough, four generations passed, and each heir of the moon became to be called 'Serenity' to keep the connection of the moon goddess. Scandalous as the law Selene reenforced seemed, it worked rather sufficiently. The Lunairian kingdom kept their title over their universe and all planets respected it. During the era of the second generation, all heirs of the planets came together and combined their powers into a sacred diamond of the moon called the Silver Imperuim Crystal to finalize the unity of the universe. The princesses of the planets came to protect not only the princess of the moon but the crystal as well._

_During the fourth generation, Serenity the third, gave birth to twin females which in the entire Lunairian history had never happened. Twins on the Moon was rather rare for that each Lunairian held such a power that it was unique to their own style, none two was ever the same. So when the twins were born, the consorts of the Queen, Luna and Artemis transpired the fall of the Universe as the lull of human Earthlings became the ruler of the Utopia Empire._

_Dispelling the invalid prophecy, Serenity the third held no superstitions that it might come true but she did have sneaking suspicions that such a thing could be so, uneventful as it appeared she placed a wish upon the crystal that if such a prophetic thing did ever happen in her life time that all her powers be confiscated by the crystal into reviving all and any deaths that would come so they would be placed into a different life time so they could have a chance at real happiness._

_Using the law that Selene decreed, the first-born twin was to be trained to be a warrior with all the other planets' warriors, as for the second-born twin, she was to be made the next heir. Though many had declined on such a thing and conflict began saying it was unfair, Serenity the third silenced their inquisitive discomforts by challenging them to defy their authority. Though the Queen of Mars, Bellona, did take the challenge she was submissively placed back into her original title for she had not lasted no more than a minute in the ring with Serenity and the legendary sword, Lite, made by Selene's father, Jericho. Defeated, Bellona made no more jeering remarks to the Queen ever again but did train her daughter, Rei rather harshly to be just as strong as Serenity's daughter, and to be loving and caring of her, for she could be sent to death if she were to go against orders._

_And so, the fourth generation is where Serena lived on the moon with all of her warriors and twin sister, Selena;_

_Golden hair streaked with silver, shone eerily in the clear dark sky as light flooded onto the ground, lighting up all that was shrouded in shadows. The sound of laughing broke the silence as a petite blonde ran through ankle deep grass, being rather viciously chased by a mob of female figures. Hair of all natural colors, twined together around the surrounding bodies as a fierce wind blew, hinting slightly at a faint smell of ash. _

"_Princess Serena! By mother of God, get back here child! This is no time to be frolicking in a plain, when there is tension between the Earth and Moon kingdom." Twisting her head, to glance submissively over her shoulder, the silver blonde gave the stern raven head a wicked grin as she arced high into the air and hit the ground with a soft **thud!** And rolled around in the grass enjoying the sensation of freedom. _

_The blonde, which the raven haired woman called Princess Serena, sat up in the grass and patted the ground next to her, inviting the older women to sit beside her. "Sweet goddess! Rei, ever since we were young, you always acted just like Sister! So stiff and nagging! Lighten up a little, your just a couple of years older than me, no need to be so formal." The Princess merrily jeered as she plopped down onto the grass, placing her hand high into the air and stretching it out, trying to cover the blue marble planet called Earth._

_A tall brunette giggled as she slapped the raven, Rei, on the back, causing the black haired warrior to stumble abit at the strength the other girl emitted in an imitating aura. "Yeah, Rei, she's right, you are a stiff. Be a princess for once in your life. You were born one, you know?" The tall warrior remarked as she parked a seat next to her beloved princess and rested her head on the blonde's shoulder, giving Rei the puppy face, pouting lips and all._

_Trying to hide the slight smile, Rei let the tips of her fingers catch fire as she blew a hot breeze the brunette's way, which caused her brown hair to immediately frizz on impact. "Take that, Lita! Your more a warrior than anyone her, you hulking Amazon!"_

_Staring startled at the raven, anger sparked eerily in the brunette's eyes, as Lita, the dark browned haired warrior, bounced to her feet and murmured to the sky, lightening to her hand. Eyes widening, Rei dodged a flash of white just in mere moments of being fried like her fire._

_Suddenly, a surprised squeal erupted from behind the fiery warrior, as an azure haired imp fell to the ground limp, with only a bit of limbs twitching to give a hint of any movement. Lita shrieked in fear, as she ran to her fallen comrade, while glaring daggers at Rei, who hopelessly gawked at the worsening situation. "Fire of Ares! I'm so sorry, Ami! It wasn't my fault, Lita was the one who threw the lightening!" She whined as she tried to help her fellow partner to gain her center of balance again, who stood wobbly on her feet._

"_I'm sorry, Rei, Lita, this is the end for me. Go on, live happy lives." The tiny woman called Ami, tripped and fell into the waiting arms of a rather beautiful, sun kissed blond, that had tears forming down the sides of her cheeks. "Oh, Ami." She sobbed as she bent her head, letting her bangs cover her face._

_Rapidly, the atmosphere grew increasingly dark as the fear settled into the hearts of Rei and Lita, as they watched on with wary eyes. Then, with a morbid smirk, the blonde shoved the blue haired girl away from her as she giggled at the startled Ami, who failed falling onto her butt, as she glared angrily up at the laughing blonde. "Thanks a lot, Mina. Now, my butt hurts more than my nerves. Stupid Lita, and her amazon strength. Stupid Rei, and her short tempered reactions." The grumbling warrior complained as she made her way onto her feet, only to await the oncoming gang up of the brunette and raven head, as they prepared to jump the tiny woman._

_The sound of clapping broke the tensing silence as all eyes turned to look at the Princess, who was rolling on the ground clutching her stomach in pure agony as she tried to swallow bouts of laughter. "Bravo, bravo, my little krieger!" The petite child called out to her stunned audience, as they stood together in a lined fashion and bowed with grins gracing each and everyone's lips._

_The bright atmosphere soothingly hummed away all worries, as even Rei, forgot her earlier fears and basked in the warmth of her bonds with the women she had known since she was very small. The princesses of the galaxy bathed in the comfort of friendship, for even of all their power and strength, they stood very alone amongst their people, whom were unable to completely comprehend their internal pain._

_Suddenly, the smell of ash becomes increasingly distinguishable as the sky to the East becomes shrouded in darkening billows of smoke, all heads turn to stare at the East, as a faint haze of red glows in a thin strip against the horizon, which by the second, becomes larger and larger._

_Feeling her heart cringe in fear, Princess Serena grips her friend and fellow guard's, Lita's hand as the aurora of blazing vermillion consumes more and more of the Eastern sky in varies shades of crimson. "That's coming from-" Serena whispered, fearing to finish the sentence, as she drew closer to Lita's looming figure, slowly hiding behind her warrior's back. "-the Eastern quadrant palace. Where most of the soldiers are stationed." The other blonde, Mina, finished her princess's comment as she tightly clutched a heart shaped chain, that dug deep into her skin, making her knuckles go white from her vise-like grip._

_Staring intently out off into the horizon, Serena made out the barest of figures, that appeared to be nothing more than specks of black that dotted the land. Then, the sound of roaring soon became evident and overtook all senses as more and more of those tiny specks grew larger and larger, in size and in numbers._

_Eyes widen in dismay, the Princess and her guardians watched with fear and fascination, as the bellowing of thousands of men charged on foot in a sprint with the gleam of their swords and spears glinting in the light, causing them to appear as if they were a glowing herd of dark mass. With a red haze of flames licking the sky as black clouds of smoke blot out the sun, the moon is engulfed into a shadowy world of darkness._

_Suddenly, Princess Serena was shoved backwards as Lita took her place in front of Serena, acting as a shield to provide safety for her beloved princess. "Lita." Serena murmured in a quiet baritone as she clutched her friend's skirt fearfully, much like a child would do to a mother. Lita glanced over her shoulder and stared at Serena with sullen eyes, when their gazes met, Lita's eyes filled with determination and love. 'Yes, this is where I will die. Next to my dear, dear, princess.' Lita mournfully decided as she turned around and placed a hand on Serena's face, giving the Princess an encouraging smile._

"_I'll protect you, believe in yourself, Princess. You must survive." She whispered as their locked gaze broke when the other warriors gathered in a circular formation around Serena. Whipping around fast, Lita screamed into the heavens with her hand raised high and palm outstretched as her green laced dress, became her sailor fuku and thin bolts of electricity flashed all around her, serving as a menacing aura. _

"_Sailor Jupiter..." The Princess started as she got the implications the sailor had previously implied, eyes hardening with resolution, Serena nodded her head with a graceful bow before she stood ramrod straight. The glow of the Lunairian symbol of the crescent moon shone brightly onto Serena's forehead as she let the powers of her Lunairian abilities hum beneath her skin. _

"_Princess, what is your command?" Sailor Venus called from the right as she snapped her whip viciously into the air, waiting for the declaration of war to be signaled. Serena did not hesitate with her thoughts when she shouted out her command. "They have come to the moon with weapons and fire as their regal amendment for battle. Scouts! Show them the no mercy! They come to us asking for war. And war is what we shall bring!" The Princess roared as she lifted her hands out into the air, whispering prayers to the goddess of the moon, for protection and power._

"_Hu-rah!" The warriors screamed as the tiny battle regiment of the scouts and princess charged the onslaught of thousands of men. As they bounded over yards and yards of grassy plains, the more the brigade of men became an outstanding force that stretched a mile wide and a mile round that sent fear into the hearts of the small party of sailors._

_Suddenly, one distinguished scream ripped out into the air, as Mars that was set to the left of Jupiter, pulled one outstretched, gloved palm into the air facing the waves of men as fire erupted like a wall of molten lava as it flashed towards the withering hulks of bodies. Agonized shrieks quieted the roar of thundering feet and blood thirsty yelled, as the fire slowly went out and the smoke cleared, an entire grave of ash stood where men had once stood._

_Serena flickered her gaze up at her protective friend, Rei, who as as Sailor Mars had sweat trickling down her brow and her face scrunched up in an pain twisted misery. Feeling concerned on her commissioner's well-being, the Princess took a step forward and helped the dazed sailor to regain her sense of adjustment as Sailor Mercury covered the entire battle zone in heavy mist, but it only did so well with the fire coming from the Eastern quadrant and its looming clouds of smoke. With it barely visible to see, the battalion of men charged onward, as they headed towards the scouts._

_With Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus combining their powers to wipe out wave after wave that charged forward, it only caused a small fraction of a dent in the onslaught of men. "What kingdom do these men come from?" Mars shouted as she rushed one of the soldiers that got passed Jupiter and Venus' whip of lightening, as she ducked one of his jabs with a spear and snapped her fingers so close to his face, that not even ashes were left of his body to float on the wind._

"_Earth...Kingdom..." The Princess murmured as she took a gasp for air trying to calm her racing heart, she had been channeling her energy from her prayers into the scouts for them to keep on fighting and was extremely exhausted, yet the men kept on coming. "What kingdom did you say, Princess?" Mercury screeched as she focused her energy on trying to cause rain to pour from the sky for the vanquish of the oncoming fire. "Earth Kingdom!" Serena replied as she helped Sailor Venus breathe as she had been impaled by a spear in the side. Making Venus lay down, Serena quickly dislodged the spear out of her side and placed a hand over the profusely bleeding wound and began to heal it._

_Then out of nowhere, arrows rip into the sky, showering all that dared to be in the way. Mars went down on one knee as she was hit once threw the thigh, screaming she ripped it out and flashed the rest of the arrows into dust. Jupiter was a one-on-one fight with a soldier as Mercury struggled to keep the field hidden in mist while trying to burn out the fire. Then with a piercing yell, Mercury was stabbed through the stomach and lifted off the ground and thrown ten feet into the air and away from the scouts._

_Within seconds, Serena clutched her heart in pain as the link between Mercury and the Princess broke. "Mercury is...dead." Serena announced as she gave Venus a slap on the shoulder, signaling that she was good to go, the Princess got up and picked up a sword that laid blood drenched alone onto the ground._

_Even though Serena was nowhere as trained as her twin, Selena, she was most certainly trained in self-defense. "Mars can you hang in there? I'm almost out of energy!" Serena yelled as she brought her sword high and then low and slashed a tall wide set man's torso wide open. Blood spewed heavily onto her white dress as she dodged another swing from a soldier that was behind the one Serena had just brought down. "Yeah!" Came Mars' curt reply as a flash of fire sent waves of heat down Serena's spine._

_Serena was pulling her crimson colored sword out of the abdomen of a dead soldier as the air behind her hissed and the sound of flesh being ripped met eerily into a quick cry. Glancing behind her, Serena saw Venus just in time for her to stumbled back onto the ground as she held one hand over her throat, gasping for air. Feeling anger surge through her, Serena leaped over the kneeling sailor and gouged his heart with her sword. Letting go, her blade and the man fell to the ground. "Venus!" The Princess shrieked as she knelt down and tried to heal her fallen friend but Venus laid her hand onto her princess's shoulder and gave her a caring look. With a strained smile, blood stained Venus' teeth and dribbled slowly out of her mouth._

_Giving her heart another jerk, the link between Venus and the Princess broke as Serena's view went hazy as she tried to get a hold of this new profound pain that seared deep into her heart. "Serena!" A angered scream called to her, and with sullen tired eyes, Serena met the raged eyes of her sister, Selena, who stood before her in Earthling attire, sword in hand._

"_Sister...?" Serena stuttered as a loud battle roar emerged from behind her, glancing back with wide eyes, Serena could only watch as her beloved friend and fiance fought. "Turn your attention here, Princess!" A flash of hot pain enveloped Serena as her cheek stung, feeling her burning cheek with shaking hands, Serena felt something warm and sticky flow between her fingers. Removing her hand away from her face, Serena stared at her fingers that were drenched in blood, **her** blood. "W-what?" She stammered as she flicked her gaze up towards her sister._

_The one she had shared smiles and jokes with. Her fears and her love. The one that had sworn to be by her side till the day she died. Was all her memories of her beloved older twin a lie? _

_With a malicious grin that hinted at deviously torturous things, Selena raise her sword high above her head, "Time to die, sister!" She screamed and, for that one truly fearful moment, Serena's heart stopped. Time slowed and the world around her disappeared. All Serena knew up to that moment in time was the in-humane look in her twin's eye._

_Then, time sped up and as Serena waited, **prayed** for death, not such thing was given as she opened her eyes to stared at her sister's rigid form. Both their eyes met as it went to the gleaming flash of metal soaked in blood that protruded disgustingly through the twin's stomach._

_Then with a sickening wet squeal, Serena watched as her sister's throat became ripped open by a dagger that was held in a familiar hand. Blood sprayed onto Serena's face as her vision became blurred by her sister's life force as she watched the shadow appear into the light that had murdered her twin right in front of her eyes. With the dead body of her twin falling into her lap, Serena met the eyes of her twin's murderer and herself savior._

"_M-m-master." She choked as her throat began to close up. Galaxia gave a feral grin as she tried to give a concerned look but only made it appear like a devil's blood craze hunger. "Princess, your sister only died because she was riddled with jealousy to have your life. She was trained to serve you, the younger sibling, when everybody had known that it should have been hers. You took your sister's life. You drove her to her death. She died because of you. It's your fault she died." Galaxia laughed as Serena stared down at her sister's pale eyes that would never fill with love for her ever again._

_Petting her sister's soaked hair, Serena hung her head, her master's word echoing in her ears like a conundrum. "Oh, sister, why? Why?" Serena cried into her sister's blood drenched hair._

_Why was death always her fault?_

With one agonized screech, Serena's eyes widen in pain as she pulls her head to look up at the blade that was embedded deep into her heart. Blood was puddled around her as she felt dizzy and light headed from the lack of energy. Thoughts of her family and friends enraptured her mind as she willed herself not to grow weak. She couldn't die like this. She just couldn't!

Suddenly, with renewed strength and drudged up determination, Serena lifted her shaking arm and wrapped her nimble fingers around the hilt of the sword with one last yank, she pulled herself free of her entrapment. Then, staggering to her feet, she plunged the sword into the ground to get a center of balance.

Feeling her heart beat begin to slow, blood gushed vigorously out her open wound and sweat breaks out onto her brow.

_Ba-thump. Ba-thump. Ba-thump._ Tears sting the corners of her eyes. Why couldn't she just be happy? All she wanted was to live a normal life. To worry about that people her age worried about. All she wanted was to live. Why couldn't they just leave her alone? Why couldn't this tired person finally have her rest and peace?

_Ba-thump. … Ba-thump. …_ No! Her friends needed to be happy. Not her! Loved ones always come first. Herself should always be the last on her agenda. They had died in some many ways just for her. Just for her. Why couldn't she do the same for them? Why couldn't she sacrifice all that she had for them? Why couldn't she love them as much as they loved her?

… … _Ba-thump... ..._Yes, she could! She could love. She could die for them a thousand times over as long as... as long as...

_Ba-... … … _they were happy.

_**How how sweetly cruel dreams can be.**_

_Okay! Here is the fifth chapter! Took me a while but I finally did it! I am so proud of myself, but honestly I think this chapter sucks. Sorry if it does. Review and tell me what you think!_

_-Danni_


	6. Chapter 5: Dreams of the Forsaken Part 2

A Moon Never Clasped

By: Danni Lynn

Chapter 5: Dreams of the Forsaken Part II

~+!Mina!+~

Standing on the edge of the road, scraped from tripping over bushes that Darien had earlier stealthily jumped, caused Mina to swear a string of curses under her breath as she tried to wipe of the remaining dirt that stained the edges of her skirt. Obliviously, Mina was unaware that Darien had stopped moving as she kept walking and bumped head first into Darien's back. Angrily, Mina raised her head, about to yell at Darien for making him lose most of her snacks and her balance, but she paused when she followed Darien's stiff stare as they caught sight of an slumped figure resting against the wall with two standing figures hovering protectively over it.

Feeling her throat beginning to close made it hard for her breathe, while sweat made her skin go clammy. Mina tried to ignore her hovering doubt that lingered way to close to her up most common sense certainty. "Isn't that...?" She started but couldn't grasp the illogical sense that what she was staring at was true. Pinning the figures close to the wall, stood a inhuman person, with daggers that seemed to come out of its skin. Its back was burned and scarred with what look like knife wounds, but Mina wasn't sure. Having a nagging sensation that she had seen this monster before unnerved her. Hadn't the winged angel killed it?

Eerily, Mina was almost positive that the youma that stood before her was the same youma that the winged angel had taken down no more than the day before. When she looked back at Darien for recrimination, all she got was a paled complexion and a face distorted in disbelief. "Yes, Mina, I think it is." Darien finished for her softly as he, himself, tried to grasp the strange reality that had been placed before them.

Looking around to see if the area was vacant, Darien glanced at Mina and caught her gaze. Simultaneously, they nodded together. As Darien pulled a rose out of his jacket and Mina rose her right hand high into the air with a orange pen with the planet Venus' symbol in it, they transformed into their altar ego selves. Transforming out of their civilian clothes, Darien and Mina became part of the recruitment team to get rid of the youma.

"Sailor Venus, Tuxedo Mask! Help! Its...its..Ami!" A sailor dashed with the color red cried as she sent waves of flames at the youma, the monster easily evaded. "Ugh! You nega-creep, get out of the way!" A tall brunette angrily yelled as she called lightening to her hand sent a bolt of it speeding towards the monster. It laughed that sounds like nails on chalkboard, as it bent low and pulled it's dagger-like arms over it's head in protection. The bolt of blue ricocheted off the metal arms and back towards the brunette sender, seeing the oncoming reflection, Venus screamed at the surprised sailor and ran hurriedly towards her.

In the nick of time, the blonde goddess made it by mere inches from being hit to send the tall warrior to the ground. The flash of lightening embedded itself into the wall with a loud crack as bits and pieces of rubble went flying. Being peppered with sharp debris, Venus was grazed several times by the bits of cement, that she staggered abit from the wounds that flared her rage to life.

"Goddammit! I'm going to have scars now!" Venus shrieked as she wiped away the seeping blood. The brunette that laid stunned onto the ground stared at Venus with a concerned facade as she tried to stand up, but only winced in pain instead. "I'm sorr-" The tall sailor started, but was quickly cut off as Venus glared at her menacingly. "No excuses, Jupiter. That was_ your _attack! You should have reacted faster!" The orange clad sailor screeched as she turned away from the brunette that watched her with hurt eyes.

As Venus was turning, a hot ball of fire whizzed by her, and singed the ends of her hair a darker shade of blonde. Whirling around with her nostrils flaring, Venus met the accusing eyes of her fellow comrade. "Mars! What the hell? That could have really done some damage if that had hit! What's your problem?" Venus yelled as she lashed her whip high into the air with a satisfactory _**snap!**_ For added effect. Mars raised an eyebrow at her, unamused, and unaffected.

"Oh, was that suppose to scare me? My problem is, _Venus _is your attitude. Just because Jupiter froze and you got banged up a little , doesn't give you the right to treat our fellow comrade like shit. Get that through that pretty little head of yours." Mars hissed icily as she braced herself for Venus to attack her. Just as Venus raised her whip high into the air, a black mass blew passed her, and with an agonized groan, bashed, spine first into the wall. Blood splattered Mina's face as it ran down her cheeks, startled, she turned to look at the slumped body.

"Tuxedo Mask!" Mars screamed as she ran to the man's aid, as he slowly tried to climb to his feet as his cape and the back of his jacket were ripped and doused in a heavy crimson liquid that stained the wall in a smeared huddle and pooled onto the ground in a small puddle. "No, I'll be fine. Just get Ami away from the youma. She needs help." The Tuxedo clad man hoarsely choked as he pushed away a apologizing Mars with a wave of his hand.

As Venus recovered from her previous shock, she looked back at Jupiter with her head hung. "Sorry, Jupiter. You okay?" She muttered with shame, feeling her cheeks burn in embarrassment because she had made a scene over some scrapes and cuts when their best friend lay on the ground a couple of feet await away dying. Jupiter got to her feet , took a step and cried out and clutched her left leg, that was swelling up nastily. "No, my leg. I think I did...something to it." Jupiter moaned in exasperation, as she struggled to keep her footing. Venus sighed in irritation, not at the brunette but at herself. If only she hadn't shoved so hard.

"Alright, Jupiter, you help Tuxie man back there, and you both try to help Ami get to the hospital. Mars and I, will dust this youma!" Venus commanded as she turned her attention back at her foe, that watched her with beady yellow eyes and a sinister smirk that danced merrily on its lips. "Ready to die?" Venus asked the monster, who in return only cocked its head to the side and gave a twisted grin. "Maaayyybbbeee." It croaked before it lifted its arm and aimed at the struggling brunette. The air hissed by as a long steel dagger split the air. Flicking her wrist with a quick jerk, Venus' whip came down hard onto the flying dagger and brought it to an immediate stand still, as gravity took its course and it feel to the ground with a metallic ring.

Venus twisted her arm and like a lasso, wrapped her whip around the monster, trapping it from any movement of any kind. "Mars, now!" Venus shouted as she pulled tighter on her chain, while the monster let out an ear splitting laugh. Mars nodded her agreement and brought her hand up towards the hysterically screeching youma and whispered a couple of incoherent words. Suddenly, a torrent of fire blasted its way through the air and towards the pinned beast.

As Venus was about to let out a victory cheer, her whip snapped so quickly that the jolt came back and slapped her in the face, which laceration deeply into the side of her right cheek, Mars' attack hit something and brought up a cloud of dust from impact that made the battlefield go hazy.

"Did we get 'em?" Venus muttered under her breath as she clutched her cheek and tried to stanch the wound while she waited for the dust to clear. From behind her, a shout was heard followed with the sound of a sickening _**crack! **_That caused Venus' heart to still for moment. "Mars?" Venus called out into the clearing smoke, and as she waited...

Her eyes widen suddenly, and then...

"I'm here." Came a curt reply to her right that nearly made her shriek in fright. Thanking her lucky stars, Venus made her way towards her friend, and stopped when she caught sight of the youma that stood hovering over Mars with its blade-like arm raised. "Mars! Watch out!" Venus cried out, as she felt her feet moving long before her mind registered what happened. A flashed of white appeared and then Venus' gaze went red.

With a yell of fear, Venus grabbed widely at her face, trying to rid herself of the foul stench of iron and bring back her vision. "No!" She cried as her used her gloved hand to dab at her face and remove whatever liquid had sprayed into her eyes. Cracking an eye open slowly, Venus caught sight of a brownish red liquid that dampened her glove like a dye. Frantically after realizing the sight of blood, she scanned her surroundings.

Tuxedo Mask and Jupiter clung to each other a few yards away as they hobbled towards Ami, while...Venus stopped. Mars was gone and where she had originally stood, was a massive spray of blood. The youma that had been standing behind Mars no more than a moment ago, was now eight meters away through the shattered cement wall.

"Oh God." Venus murmured as she struggled to face the evidence that pointed fearfully at a reality that Venus did not what to look at. Wrapping her arms around herself, she rocked back and forth on the tips of her heels, whispering in a low mantra a string of 'oh, God's that seemed to relax her sensitive nerves but didn't still the profound pain in her chest that clung to her heart like as if there was a fist in its grasp that was squeezing...

squeezing...

squeezing...

Tears running down her face, Venus opened her jaw and let loose the most agonized wail that she could muster. The world around her went silent as her eyes went unfocused, blurring her vision to fuzzy blurs and shapes. Then suddenly, her head snapped side-ways and her wounded cheek burned all the more. Rage that vented her body course their her, edging her onward toward the cliff of madness. Driving her closer and closer to her breaking point.

Snapping open her eyes, Venus raised her hand, about to apply equal if not more force to the person that had slapped her. Feeling her mind fog and her heart leap right out of her chest, Venus gasped as she stared into the fiery irises of her supposed-be lost comrade, Mars. "Y-y-your...alive?" Venus stuttered as she cautiously reached her hand out and touched Mars face gently. After feeling the soft touch of flesh against flesh, Venus gave a cry of joy and enveloped Mars into her arms, like as if she had found her long lost sister.

"Fuck yes, I am. Now, stop having your panic attacks, and help me get rid of that damn youma." Mars pushed Venus away, but when she turned her head away, she got sight of Mars' hidden grin. Venus gave her fellow sailor a gracious nod and turned her attention back towards the monster that was scrambling to its feet, while hurriedly pushing away rocks of cement that littered it and the ground around it.

As Mars took a tentative step towards their enemy, Venus caught the smell of brunt flesh that she was all to familiar with by having a friend that wielded the element of fire. Looking around towards the source, she caught sight of pure white wings that stretched a good foot and a half above a golden haired head. Following the crooked designs of the wings, Venus traveled her gaze towards an angelic face that seemed frighteningly pale and cold azure blue eyes that held a certain kind of coldness that most would never be able to obtain. Steadily, the icy stare of the angelic being met with Venus' curious one and quietly they watched each other with wary eyes. Then the haze of vermillion quickly caught her attention, as she studied a part of the right wing that was cut diagonally across the bottom in half, the dripped rapidly with blood, following the cut was a deep gash into the calf of the winged girl that had stopped bleeding but showed ripped muscle beneath it as bits of flesh hung to the side.

"Your hurt." Venus told her as if it was the hardest thing to find out up to that moment in time. The girl only flicked her eyes from the youma back to Venus then returned it back towards the youma, with a steely resolution hidden deep in her cobalt blue eyes.

"I am fine." She murmured silently, so low that if it wasn't for the fact that Venus was down wind, she would have never heard her. "Alright, lets attack." Mars announced as she raised her hand to let loose a ball of fire. The angelic being took a couple of steps and stood in front of Mars with her eyes bearing heavily into Mars' irritated gaze. "No. I shall handle this. Grab Ami and leave." She told Mars but looked at Venus when she said it. Venus nodded her head, and a ghost of a smile made its way faintly to her lips. Twirling around quickly, the angelic girl made her way slowly towards the standing youma that watched the sailors with devilish eyes (quiet good with an injured leg).

"Die, once more, lost child. Find your peace in death. You will have no solace here." The winged girl demanded. The youma gave a barking laugh that drilled deep into Venus' skull so hard that she winced in pain at the shrill sound of it. Then, with a quiet _**whoosh! **_The eery laughter was cut mid-way and the sound of something soft landing onto the ground made way to Venus' ears. Looking up, Venus caught just in time, to see the youma's headless body collapsed onto the road.

The angelic girl turned around to face the staring sailors with a blood stained sword in hand that Venus had not noticed before, but just as quickly as she saw it, it dissipated into the air, in what Venus assumed was another of those space-sub pockets. The youma's body erupted into a blueish fire that it had once previously. Watching it Venus could only wonder if it would come back to life once more. "Is it really dead?" Mars asked as she made her way to Venus' side. The angelic being nodded her head. "Hey, what's your name?" Venus wondered her thoughts aloud, hoping she could have a natural talk with this mysterious angel.

"Cosmos. Sailor Cosmos" She whispered as she turned and walked away. Mars opened her mouth to call after the winged angel named Cosmos, but Venus held up her hand to stop her. "Mars, not now. I have a million questions of my own to ask, but Ami really needs help and if my assumption is correct then, if more youma appear then more of her we'll being seeing as well." Venus reasoned as she turned her attention towards the group of three that were some-ways down the road, with a steady trail of blood following them. "Alright." Mars quietly agreed as they trailed silently after the injured group.

~!~

Slower and slower her breathing became, it was so shallow in fact, that you had to hold your ear against her mouth to hear the faint push and pull of air being carried in her lungs. Her face was so pale, that the corners of her lips and fingers were tinged blue.

Running on her bad leg, Lita, the fastest out of all of the group bounded hurriedly up the hospital stairs, with her left leg swollen around her thigh and calf with deep purple bruises. Mina just knew that had to be killing her up at that moment. It had been forty-five minutes since they had left the apartment to rush her to the hospital. It had been fifteen minutes since the battle. Another ten more minutes might just kill Ami, Mina thought.

So, using whatever energy she had left, she sprinted past the panting brunette that carried their dying friend in her arms, and slammed open the emergency door so hard that the glass in the door cracked a little. Two burly security guards rushed to meet Mina head-long with guns ready in hand. "Ma'am calm down. What's the problem?" A rather handsome bleach blonde guard asked as he eyed Mina's wounds cautiously. Feeling pent up anger and irritation break inside of her, Mina decked the good looking security guard right in the jaw, so hard, he went stumbling onto the floor a foot away where he had originally stood.

"Miss!" The other guard yelled as he raised his gun and pointed it at her. A tiny nurse watched Mina with round, alert eyes, that when Mina pointed at her, that she stood ramrod still with fear. "I don't have time for this. We need a doctor! My friend is dying!" Mina exclaimed as she looked back over her shoulder to see Lita rush in with Ami in her arms. "Take her!" Lita screamed at the security guard that held the gun, he hesitated on whether or not he should stay or help.

Sighing irritatedly, Mina ran to Lita and held her arms out for Ami, whom Lita gratefully dumped onto Mina. Just then, two double doors that read emergency on them, swung wide open to reveal a tired, middle-aged woman with red hair that dashed towards Mina side with three nurses quickly trailing behind. The doctor gently advised Mina to lay Ami flat onto the floor as the doctor knelt down and took Ami's pulse and breathing rate.

"This is...? Ami?" The doctor gasped as she turned and frantically motioned for a young blonde nurse that stood ways aside, watching silently. "Take her to the back and run her up on..." The doctor ran a bunch of medical terms that Mina didn't understand so she just turned and looked at her friend, Lita sprawled onto the ground groaning in agony, gripping her leg with both hands.

Just then, Rei and Darien slipped into the doorway, with Darien as pale as a ghost, groping the front of his shirt, panting for air and Rei, whose arm hung awkwardly to the side, limp. Mina stood up and strode to stand in front of them. "Darien? Darien!" Mina snapped as she tried to get his attention, but as soon as he looked up, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed into Mina's outstretched arms. "Nurse!" Mina screamed as she struggled to hold Darien's dead weight.

"Another?" The doctor groaned annoyed as she rushed to Darien and preformed the same procedures that she did on Ami. "Lady, if you knew what was good for you, you would shut the fuck up and help this injured man." Mina snapped as she laid Darien flat onto the floor. The doctor eyed her suspiciously and opened her mouth to retort something just as rude to say, but Rei took a step in and silenced her. "Ma'am, just ignore her. We're all just worried for our friends." She intervened as she helped Mina climb to her feet.

"Thanks, Rei." Mina muttered as she stretched her aching body and watched nurses and doctors place Darien and Ami onto the stretchers. "Welcome. Just know to watch your tongue. I can't keep covering up for you." Rei quietly whispered as she limped her way to Lita. Mina noticed that Rei's leg had a deep gash on it, much similar to the one Sailor Cosmos had on her own leg, except Rei's wasn't as deep or gruesome. "Hey, Rei?" Mina called to her, as she watched the muscles move and contract in the cut.

"Yeah?" Rei replied over her shoulder. "How did you get that cut?" Mina wondered with fear, just how bad of shape her friends really were in. "What c-...oh. I don't know." She whispered as she cradled Lita in her arms, trying to sooth her of her pain.

"Miss. Please sit down. We'll treat the rest of you later." The black security guard led her to some cold cushioned, dental office looking, chairs that were placed in a circle around a tiny coffee table with a couple of magazines on top. A similar circle of chairs was placed a foot away from the little circle Mina, and her friends were seat at, with a couple of people vacating the spot.

"Overdose?" A mousy looking woman whispered to a tall, black haired man that grunted in response and turned the page of the magazine he was reading. "More like a drug infested movie scene reenactment that went wrong." The man jeered as he met Mina's stare with a hint of challenge channeled deep within the depths.

Mina ignored them and sat down next to Rei who was trying to console the harmed Lita. "Lita! What's wrong? Well, besides your leg." Mina asked as she tried to focus on something other than the rude remarks the other patients were making about the entire scene that Mina had caused. Lita looked up at Mina with pain clouded eyes. "My thigh, Mina. My thigh." Lita whined as she whimpered while she lifted up her leg to show Mina what she was talking about.

Mina caught sight of a fist size hole gouged deep into Lita's leg that looked a good pinky sized deep. The blood had finally stanched but what looked like a wicked sharp piece of rock, was stabbed into the middle of the wound. "Oh." Mina blanched, and quickly looked away. Moving her gaze to settle onto her hands, Mina thought the earlier fight she had, had with Lita when they fighting youma and how she had gotten all worked up over a couple of scrapes and bruises. Mina was the one in the best condition, and the knowledge of that settled at the pit of her stomach like a rock.

~!~

After three hours in the waiting room, they finally took Lita in with Rei helping her move as her support leaving Mina alone in the front of the emergency department. She had filled out paper work and documents, saying whatever needed to be said for each one of her friends that were in the emergency room. Yet, when the tiny nurse that Mina had first saw when she came into the emergency room, asked if she was going to be treated for her cuts and terrible gash onto her cheek, she politely turned her down. The nurse was persistent at first, but after a good dozen 'no's , she finally wore down. Though that didn't stop the fact that the nurse was watching her like a hawk to make sure Mina didn't suddenly drop dead or something.

Suddenly, the emergency double doors opened once again, this time with the doctor that had treated Ami and Darien as she strolled towards me with a grim expression onto her face. Mina took a deep breath and stood up, meeting the doctor with her first step. "The young man that you brought in, Darien Shields, I presume, has a punctured lung, two broken ribs, a fractured hand that is shattered to bits and a fractured arm as well. He is stable, but is still in critical condition. He will be hospitalized for more or less a week." The doctor explained, causing Mina to sigh in relief. One down, another one to go.

"And Ami?" Mina began as she waited for the doctor to continue, who shifted the weight of her feet a couple of times before she nervously met Mina's waiting stare.

"Ami Mizuno, well, I am not sure if you realize it or not, but your friend suffers from a chronic heart disease, that makes the heart vessels close up for a couple of seconds or possibly a minute or two if the heart pumps too hard. Your friend has been fighting this for almost two years. She escaped death today, but I am afraid to say, she either has to go through with a surgery or to wait till she needs complete medical care." The doctor finished with her head hung, the way she said it made Mina's heart squeeze in pain and after a moment of silence, she took in a deep, shaky breath and met the eyes of the doctor once more.

"Where is she? Can I see her?" Mina asked as she rubbed her eyes, to get rid of her sleepiness and the dull ache that had begun to form behind them, telling her that the light in the room was not helping her vision what-so-ever. The doctor gave a exhausted smile and nodded her head. "Second floor, room 208. She is stable." And with all that was needed to be said, the doctor whipped around with a snap of her heel and walked right back into the emergency room.

Mina made her way to the elevators that stood at the end of a long winding hall that a nurse or two had kindly led her towards. Pressing the button, Mina waited for the elevator to arrive. As she waited, she was reminded of the time when the last time the sailors had faced a youma battle just as gruesome as this one. It was when Beryl was still around and they had just found the fourth scout and where still getting used to their powers when a youma came out of nowhere and stabbed Rei through the center of her chest with a steel pipe. Luckily, Rei survived with only a couple of broken rips and a messed up lung but the damage certainly took its toll. Rei has a circular scar that is on the front and back of her chest right next to her solar flex.

They rushed Mina to the hospital and all the sailors stayed there until Rei woke up and began to move again. They stayed by her side for three days, never moving. After had gotten better Rei was a lot more alert in battle than anyone of them were. She was probably the most strongest out of all the scouts.

With a soft _**ding!**_ The elevator slowly opened and Mina stepped it. As went up, Mina held the support railing as she felt her head spin. Elevators certainly were not her favorite, when one time she was pushed out of a building during a youma battle and fell eighty-stories down, Tuxedo Mask saved her before she got killed but the fear always stayed with her. Heights were no longer favorite thing in the world anymore.

Mina snorted at the notion. How the battles with the youmas had changed each scout in their own way. It made them better, but they never forgot the fear.

The fear of dying.

The fear of the pain.

The fear of the loss.

As Mina stopped at the entryway that read **208, **she took a deep breath and slowly opened the door. Fear at what she might see enveloped her, but when she stood in the doorway, all she was greeted to was the sound of the machines screeching to a flat line, and a window with the curtains drawn and the window itself open.

A warm breeze that smelled gently of flowers hinted in the air. Yet, as Mina looked around. Ami was no where in sight. Thinking she had the room mistaken, Mina was about to turn around when a flash of white caught her eye. Turning she saw a white piece of paper with a short, neat, little scribbles on it. Picking it up she read:

_Ami is fine._

_-Cosmos_

All that was said. Mina felt her heart spot a third time that day as she collapsed onto her knees in shock. Cosmos had kidnapped Ami when she was dying.

Was Cosmos friend or foe?

How would Mina ever know the truth behind this mysterious angelic warrior?

_Oookkaayy! Here you go kitties. The second part of this chapter on the next day! Hoped you liked it. I wrote a nice long battle scene just for you. Review and tell me whether it was worth my time to write this or not._

_-Danni_


	7. Chapter 6: Fighting Amongst Ourselves

A Moon Never Clasped

By: Danni Lynn

Chapter 6: Fighting Amongst Ourselves

~!+Mina+!~

Feeling the rapid pound of her heart hammering in her chest, Mina sat down onto the bed, feeling herself grow faint as she began to perceive the new information she has just obtained in just a few little sentences. Gripping the note hard enough to turn her knuckles white, she could only blink and blink as the seed of panic began to seize her mind.

Suddenly, she opened her mouth and breathed in a gulp of air as she brought her hand up to her mouth in shock. The news finally settling in. "Oh my God! _Oh my God!_" Mina shrieked as she began to hyperventilate unable to grasp the idea that Ami might be dead because Mina had foolishly trusted an unknown enemy that had just happened to kill a youma and help her friends.

Cosmos had kidnapped Ami. How was she going to explain this to Lita or Rei? Especially with the knowledge that Ami was ill and might kneel over to die at any moment. The scouts were injured and their Midnight clad ally was on the verge of death. Then, Mina paled, at the very thought of explaining the situation to the Outer scouts. They barely got along with the Inners, and then with the sudden kidnapping of a fellow comrade, this would surely bring the rest of the Inners to ruin and the fragile compact between the Inners and the Outers would shatter.

"Shit." Mina moaned as she laid onto the bed and covered her face with her arm. Her life had just went down to Hell. Suddenly, the ringing of a high pitch scream began to resonate throughout the room, as Mina's pocket began to vibrate with a square glow shining through the thin fabric.

Reaching for her phone, Mina read the caller-ID and instantly began to have a serious panic attack as she thought of ludicrous ways for an explanation to justify what was happening. Coming up with a sketchy plan Mina shakily answered her phone with a faint, "H-h-hello?"

With the sound of a low grunt, a husky voice replied with an annoyed, "Mina?" Cursing herself mentally, Mina took a deep breath and cleared her mind of all thoughts. "Yes?" She reproached with a stronger voice. The line went silent as there was the sound of rustling and angry whispers heard in the background.

Then with another grunt there was a grumbled, "Fine." before the sound of breathing broke the silence Mina had rapidly grown accustomed to. "Mina, its Amara. Rei called us not too long ago about the condition you guys are in from a youma attack, but we heard Ami was in for the worse, so we decided to call and find out if she's gonna be alright." Amara's husky voice growled across the phone as Mina winced from the blunt tone she used.

"Umm, about _that_..well, you see..." Mina trailed off as her bright tone instantly crumbled to mumbled replies as she searched of a way for Amara not to drive over to the hospital and kick her wimpy ass. "Mina, what happened to Ami?" Amara's tone raised a little and grew sharper as Mina closed her eyes and sighed. Opening them again she fixed them onto her shoes as she sat up and hunched over. "Amara, Ami got kidnapped."

The line went dead and the sound of screeching and things being thrown bleated out the low tone of electricity humming. Mina immediately stood up and left Ami's hospital room, throwing Cosmos' note into her pocket. Then the line was picked up once again and this time Michelle's gentle voice came on. "We're heading to the hospital now. Don't leave." She commanded sternly as if Mina was nothing more than a simple lap dog.

Snapping her phone shut, Mina hissed beneath her breath, "Shit." as she headed for Lita's room aware of the fact that was were Rei was as well. Running through hallways and being yelled after by several nurses, Mina made her way to Lita's room where she rested asleep onto a hospital bed with her leg bandaged and an IV drip attached to her arm.

Coming to a sudden halt in the doorway, the sound of Mina's shoes making loud slaps against the tile floor startled a dozing Rei awake as she jumped at her feet and stared at Mina alarmed. "What is it Mina?" Rei nearly yelled as she readily gripped her transformation pin in her right fist. Mina raised her hand to stop her as she took pants of breath.

Moving to take a seat beside Rei, Mina plopped down onto a white chair and covered her face with her hands. Rei stood next to her, watching her with fear and concern. "God..." Mina groaned as she lifted her face from her palms and stared at Rei with exhaustion. "Sit down Rei, I don't want you to hurt herself even more." Mina gripped Rei's hand in a relaxing manner as she tried to coax the fire senshi into the chair next to her.

Releasing her held breath, Mina stared at Rei with the most serious face she could muster as Rei waited anxiously to hear what had happened to her most closest best friend. "Cosmos kidnapped Ami." Mina blurted out as she held onto Rei in misery.

Rei blinked a couple of times, unable to understand what Mina had just said. The few moments of silence seemed to stretch to what felt like forever to Mina as she watched Rei with worried eyes, afraid the raven girl might implode or faint or, or...something scary, Mina reasoned to herself.

Shifting her weight in her seat, Mina squirmed in the tense atmosphere that had begun to settle into the room with only the sound of Lita's IV drip making a steady hum as she was pumped with medications of all sorts. Then, Rei leaned back into her chair and stared wide-eyed at the ceiling.

"God dammit, Mina!" Rei screamed as she jumped to her feet and glared down at Mina with an accusing stare. Mina didn't shrink back in fright, she was expecting that Rei would be angry with her for it was the raven's way of coping with feelings she couldn't understand. Suddenly, Lita groaned and twitched a bit where she lay painstakingly pitiful on the white hospital sheets, as she gained the attention of the other two senshi that took resident in the room with her.

Standing up, Mina grabbed Rei by the forearm and led her out into the hallway as not to disturb their injured friend. "Rei, I know your upset and probably want to beat the shit out of me, but right now is not the time. Amara and the rest of them are probably driving like Hell over to us and I can't keep having you glare at me the entire time." Mina hissed under her breath in a regal tone, making sure her fellow comrade understood the hinted message.

Rei angrily nodded her head as she began to pace back and fro in the hallway outside of Lita's room, as Mina stood contemplating what she was going to tell the Outer scouts on how they lost a blue haired senshi in a hospital surrounded by armed guards in broad daylight. "How are we going to be able to get Ami back? We have no leads!" Mina yelled frustrated at their lack of info on to find their stolen friend.

Suddenly, Rei stopped in front of Mina and stared at her with an unfocused gaze, seeing something that wasn't Mina. Her eyebrows knitted together as she pursed her lips in confusion, trying to fill in the blanks in her head. Then with a slap to her forehead, Rei jumped with glee.

"Yes! I've got it!" She shouted as Mina watched her with a curious look written on her relaxed expression. "What is it, Rei?" Mina asked her as she shifted her weight on her feet, anxiously waiting for Rei's reply in hopes that they would be able to hunt down this mysterious Cosmos and bring her to justice's end.

Flicking her gaze to the blond, Rei gave her a small grin as she took out her communicator and handed it to Mina. "This," Rei paused as she pointed to the small device Mina clutched her hand, "is how we'll find her."

Tipping her head to the side confused, Mina stared at Rei, unable to comprehend the message that Rei was implying with the tiny gadget that laid in the love senshi's open palm. "So? What we going to do, just ring her up and be like, 'Hey, Ami, if you aren't dead yet or unconscious or conspicuously tied up in a hole somewhere, do you mind telling us where you are?', like that's a real ideal plan, Rei. Let's also dress up like a bunch of bunny-rabbits eating carrots and calling everybody 'Doc.'" Mina sneered as she rolled her eyes and leaned against the wall, with eyes glaring at the fire senshi through exhaustion and hunger. Rei raised her hand, her expression twisted in rage at Mina's taunting as the senshi of Venus and Mars stared at each with the utmost of hatred due to the frustration of their beloved friend's kidnapping, and the dreadful exhaustion that came with being a senshi and having dealt blows with an ridiculously strong super-human creature, but just as Rei's hand was about to come flying down on her fellow comrade's face, she was halted from movement.

Suddenly, without warning, Rei's legs gave out beneath her as she slammed down hard onto her knees, and a heavy pressure was pinned into the back of her spine, keeping her to the floor. "Stay." Came a gruff voice that was cold like steel, that sent deep shivers down the short-tempered priestess's back, as she slowly jerked her hand up to meet cobalt eyes that watched her with annoyance. Mina stepped forward, leaning down to take Rei's arm, her azure eyes never wavering from the cross-dressing senshi, who had the raven crumpled to the ground. "Release her, Amara. This is no place to pick a fight." Mina warned as she helped lift the reluctant Rei off the ground and against the senshi of love, for support, for even though Rei's main injury was her dislocated shoulder she still was tired from the fight with the youma and the latest knowledge of their now stolen friend.

Amara's eyes shimmered with humor as she smirked at the ready-to-kneel-over-and-die senshi. "You should think about what you just said. Was it not I, who stopped the fight you, two, were just about to go brawling? No?" She teased as she stuffed her hands in her pockets and rocked onto the backs of her heels, loosening up abit and letting the atmosphere drop from menacing to semi-hostile. Mina sighed and hung her head, ashamed that she had lost her temper and drove her friend to almost hitting her. "Alright, you win, but please Amara, we are tired enough of as is it. Don't go agitating us, for what you saw was no mere than a dispute because we are weary and scared. Now, let us go discuss this in the waiting room, for Lita is resting in the room behind us." The love senshi complied as she began to move down the hall, helping support Rei, who was beginning to grow weak from lack of hunger and sleep, Amara followed as Michele, Setsuna, and Hotaru trailed quietly behind, anxious to find out more to what Mina had meant on the phone on how Ami got kidnapped by this Cosmos thing, or whatnot.

~!+Ami+!~

Darkness. Deep, black abyss reeking of only death, disease, and misery. The suffocating stench of anger and regret, blotting the nose with the acrid smell of decay. A figure lay amongst a pile of millions of bodies that seemingly squirmed and jerked, none no moving. Yet...the sound. Oh God...Oh sweet, sweet, merciful heaven...the sound was unbearable. The agonizing moans of pain, loss, and grief screamed into the air revealing nothing but it was, darkness.

The petite figure opened its' mouth to scream, but all that came out was an animal-like whimper. As it tried to move, nothing happened except flares of fire bolted through its skin when it tried to do anything that meant physical movement, that caused the figure to writhe in spasms of pain. After several attempts of making any sound or movement, the figure began to quickly lose hope as it ceased doing anything proactive.

Staring out into the darkness, near to blind eyes could make out naked bodies that stretched as far as the horizon in a shade of black gray with a thick film of a heavy atmosphere giving the impending doom of an eternity stuck like this. Mountains of flesh were piled high, each and every body awake, shrieking silently the cursed realm they found themselves in. Yet, the figure could only wonder in solemn realization, that maybe where they were, was Hell. Yes, most certainly, this was Hell, to pay back all that they did wrong when they were living. Being human was a powerful thing, especially when it meant that if you were not careful when you were living, you would pay back all sins you made ten-fold after you die. _This is Hell, and I deserve to be here._ The figure decided, as they closed their eyes and let the world around them fade, to escape to memories that were still fresh in their mind, before...they were forgotten in the darkness.

"Ami..." A soft voice called as a beam of light streaked through the darkness, landing upon the figure. Opening their eyes, the figure watched as the light began to grow in spindling cracks through the darkness. "Ami.." The lilting voice grew more urgent as the light began to grow brighter, blinding the figure as they tried to get adjusted.

"Ami!" The voice urged as it cried, suddenly, the figure felt a sense of weightlessness as if a burden had been removed, yet...as the figure realized that it was floating towards the light, something heavy and painful slammed into them, making them remember why they were in this hell. Their sin. "Ami, you have to let it go. Your strong, you can move on, but you have to forgive yourself. Your not alone, but I need you to let it go." The soft voice quietly pleaded as the light grew brighter and brighter.

How could she move on? She deserved it, after what she did. She deserved hell and she was granted access, but now they wished to rob her of her only way to be forgiven? How dare they! Yet...did she really want to be left alone in that darkness being eaten away by the nothingness and the growing mass of bodies that piled higher and higher?_ No! Don't leave me here! _The figure screeched inside her mind, as she watched the light, and demanded that it take her away from this hell. "Let it go..." The voice was distant as the light began to fade and the darkness began to settle once more.

Did she want to be left here? Let it go? How could she let it go? "Believe in yourself...don't let your self-loathing consume you...let it go..." The voice was almost inaudible and the figure began to panic, as it felt itself began to lower back down towards the mass of writhing flesh. Feeling themselves beginning to grow fearful, they took a deep breath and closed their eyes, as they went inside themselves and probed around their bleeding heart. No, they couldn't let it go, they mournfully realized, but yet, they felt they could mend some of the holes that had began to grow out of anguish and sorrow, and if they could fix some of what was broken, then they could fix themselves after being given time. Yes, they could forgive, just not forget.

"Ami..." The voice called once more, this time when the figure began to float once more, they didn't feel their burden disappear and slam back into them, more as the load had lightened, but was still there. Yet, when the figure looked back at all those pain filled hearts, they saw their own body amongst the stack, even though they, themselves, were leaving this infernal hell. "You always have a place here in hell, but you have a place in heaven too. It is just your decision on whether or not you want to be down back here, or up to a paradise where hell can not reach." The voice explained as the figure left the stacks of bodies and was bathed in a white light, and the world around them faded.

The pain from their burden stayed, but they felt more at peace with themselves. They must live with their sin, but they shouldn't have to suffer for it for the rest of their lives. Maybe, she could change now.

~+!Mina!+~

"So...your telling me, that this...angelic warrior called Cosmos, is going around killing youma, saved your asses a couple of times and now, just kidnapped Ami? Did I leave anything out?" Amara growled as she leaned forward with her elbows resting on her legs and her head buried in her hands that rubbed her face from exhaustion. Michelle put an arm around Amara and rubbed her leg in a gentle, comforting manner, hoping to relieve her beloved some of her stress.

Mina sat back in her chair with her arms crossed over her chest with a distant stare that didn't seem to be directed anywhere. "Yip, that's all of it." She replied as she glanced down at Rei, who laid dozing on the couch next to her, back facing the room. Putting her hand on Rei's head and moving some strands out of her face in an affectionate way as Mina sighed and shook her head in pity. "Poor girl." She murmured as she thought about how close Rei was with Ami, and how it broke her heart when she found out she was stolen when she was on death's doorstep.

"Do you have any idea on how we might find her?" Setsuna asked as she crossed her legs and waited for Mina's response. "Yes, but it was Rei's idea and I think she should need to explain it, but we need our rest. We won't be much of a reliable resource if we continue on like this." Mina explained as she met the eyes of Setsuna and watched the senshi of time. "Not like you really were a reliable resource to begin with. You trusted an enemy and let your guard down, which only ended up with Ami being kidnapped!" Amara accused as she sprang from her chair and gripped Mina by the collar of her shirt. The love senshi stared with dull and heavy eyes, but when Amara began to shake her, they flashed with irritation before Amara was kicked across the room with a petite body laying on top of her with their fingers wrapped around their throat.

Michele jumped to her feet as she watched Mina choking Amara, but was stopped by little Hotaru that placed her hand out to stop the older woman. "No, this is their fight. Let them sort this out amongst themselves. This is their battle, not yours." She sullenly told Michele as she shook her head.

Mina squeezed hard against Amara's neck, feeling the senshi of the wind beginning to sputter at the lack of oxygen she wasn't getting. "I just watched Rei almost get herself killed by the youma but Cosmos saved her ass, also, she saved Ami and Darien. So fuck off, you bitch. Where were you guys as that youma almost wiped out three of our teammates? Hmm? Where were you all those other times we almost died fighting a youma? While you were wasting your time letting _us_ protect _you_, I grew stronger, so I'm not so weak as I used to be. So, Amara stop carrying your weight around like your some bad-ass hoe, because you ain't shit compared to us, to me. I am the leader of this little group, so, I order you to stand down and watch over what's left of our comrades that are vacating this current hospital, and let Rei and I have a goddamn chance to fucking recuperate. Got that, bitch?" Mina hissed into Amara's ear as she squeezed even tighter to make sure Amara would nod her head.

When she did, Mina got off Amara and walked back towards Rei and gently shook her, leaving the startled and annoyed Amara, coughing and wheezing on the tile floor. "Alright, you crazy fucker, I get it. Call me when you get the fuck up later." Amara growled as she let Michele coax her to her feet and into a chair. As Mina waited for Rei to wake up, she noticed a brown stain running across Rei's back on her shirt.

Rei opened her eyes and sighed. "Can't even have a couple hours of rest before you have to come wake me up." She grumbled as she stretched and made her way to her feet, only to stumble into Mina's waiting arms. Mina pulled her close in a hug, "Sorry, but you need rest, and Amara needs sometime to chill before we talk about...business." Mina hesitated on whether or not she should mention Ami in the already exhausted, and over-exerted girl. Rei nodded her head in understanding, as Mina slung her arm around Rei's waist and wrapped Rei's arm around Mina's neck to help Rei keep her balance.

Mina escorted Rei out of the room with Amara glaring holes at them all the way. "She's such a bitch when she wants to be." Amara grumbled as she nuzzled her face into Michele's neck as she pulled the blue-haired lover closer to her. Little Hotaru pranced up to Amara and jumped into the seat beside her. "Reminds me of you, Amara-papa." The tiny child commented as she watched the senshi of love and fire leave the room on a set of two good legs. Setsuna smirked and chuckled at Hotaru's statement, as Michele grinned at Amara's flustered and irritated face. "Be quiet child." Amara scolded as she brought Michele closer to her. Hotaru only looked at them with wide innocent eyes that always held the mist of foreboding in their depths.

Mina staggered down the hall with Rei bent over her, panting for air, catching Mina's concerned stare. "What? Got a problem with an injured soldier trying to breath?" Rei sneered as she stopped and leaned against the wall, tilting her head up towards the ceiling as not to see Mina's worried expression. "I am when you have a deep and bleeding gash across your back that you decided not to inform anyone about." The blond warrior retorted as she crossed her arms over her chest and waited for Rei's intelligent remark.

None came, as Rei only sighed and went back to having an arm around Mina's neck and letting the senshi of love lead her out of the hospital and back towards home. "I just wish Ami was still healthy and we were all just normal people living normal lives." Rei murmured forlornly under her breath, not meaning anyone to really hear her. Mina stiffened and sucked in air before she pursed her lips in a tight, grim frown. "If wishing could fix the world, Rei, then we would live in a hella-lot better place than this, but this is what we got and as long as you don't ever take that for granted, then...your good." Mina whispered back as they made their way into an empty elevator and Mina tightened her grip on Rei, as the elevator started its decent down.

"How the fuck am I good if my best friend, Ami, is fucking dying? If she dies...if she dies...if she dies I'll have no one!" Rei began to sob as she pulled away from Mina and hunched her shoulders, curling into herself, refusing to let anyone in. Mina felt her heart shake as she felt the grief for her dear friend's kidnapping and dance with death as well as misery for the dear friend that was heart broken over the very fact of it. The senshi of love shook her head clear of all thoughts and slid her arms around Rei's waist and pulled the hysterical raven into her, letting the priestess to cry out her soul. Rei turned towards Mina and buried her face into the blond's chest, drenching Mina in Rei's tears.

By the time the soft _ding!_ of the elevator reaching the ground floor went off, Rei had gathered some parts of herself together and was only crying with an expressionless face. "Ami isn't dead yet, and your not alone, you have Lita, Darien and I as well as pig-headed Amara and her crew. Just have faith, Rei and believe that this _**will**_ get better. **We** will get better. _Ami_ will get better. Just believe." Mina answered as they trudged out of the elevator and towards the doors of the hospital where they would only be blocks away from Lita's house, which served as everybody's living space. Ami and Rei practically already lived there, even though it wasn't official and Mina was always over there if she wasn't at school or the Crown Arcade flirting with Andy or some other cute, helpless guy. Their home was with everyone. If Ami wasn't there, then it wouldn't be much of a home at all.

\(^.^)/

Afternoon light splayed across the magnolia-colored carpet, as the sound of hissing rippled in the air, almost like a feral cat in pain. As Rei sat in a chair hunched over with her teeth clenched, Mina attended the wound that ran down Rei's back, dribbling blood down the beige stool, that the raven sat upon. "Its amazing that none of the doctors caught sight of this when you were being treated at the hospital." Mina commented as she dabbed a wet cloth against the laceration.

"I told them to let me keep my shirt on, since my shoulder was the only real injury." Rei muttered, as she clenched her fingers in the soft cushion of her seat. Mina pulled back and placed the now blood stained cloth into the hand bucket that she had placed at her feet when she began to treat Rei's wound. Shaking her head in disapproval, Mina took out her pen and murmured her transformation line, as Sailor Venus of love stood behind a wincing raven. "I still think your an idiot for not letting the doctors stitch you back up, because I now have to waste energy healing your tight-lipped ass." Venus grumbled as she carefully placed her hand on the deep slash and tried to apply the least amount of pressure as she focused all her energy into healing Rei's wound.

A soft light glowed around the wound, as the skin began to mend back together and the blood began to cease. Rei's back lost its stiffness as the fire senshi stood up straighter and unwound her fingers from the chair, that now held claw marks upon the bottom. "Yeah, well...I was going to be fine and Ami, Darien and Lita needed much more attention than I did. So 'why bother', I thought and just decided that I'd get you to heal it up later." Rei replied as Venus pulled away and the soft glow disappeared, leaving only an angry-looking pink scar on Rei's back, running right through the circular scar that was penetrated exactly in the middle of Rei's back, except it was a lighter hue than the newly added one.

Venus sighed as she grabbed her pen and waved it over her body, leaving Mina standing exactly where the senshi of love had stood before, moments ago. Mina placed her hand to her forehead and used her other hand to grip Rei's shoulder for balance, as she stood swaying on her feet. Rei glanced back at Mina and crinkled her brow in concern as she immediately stood up and let her friend use her as support. "Are you okay? Did that really take that much out of you?" She asked as she lead the disoriented blonde to the couch, where she let Mina sit and rest. Rei moved some discarded magazines on the coffee table and stacked them together in a corner before she sat down in front of Mina, watching her with worried eyes.

"I'm fine." Mina answered as she shook her head to get rid of the dizzy spell that she was caught up in and climbed to her feet, hurriedly making her way to the kitchen, afraid to admit how much rest she needed. She hadn't slept in almost two days, because of the damn youma, that Cosmos had killed, and killed again. She needed to be strong for her senshi, seeing as Rei, the most sensible one out of all of them, had lost her cool, then Mina couldn't afford to.

Digging around in the frig, Mina saw dozens of delicious things that would have made her mouth water, if it wasn't for the fact that she was too tired to eat and had no energy to make anything. Rei sauntered into the kitchen and gently pulled Mina out of the refrigerator and pulled the blonde into a hug. Surprising the love senshi, Mina jerked backwards away from the raven's embrace, startled by Rei's gesture of affection. "What was that for?" She stuttered as she took a step back, not used to Rei's friendly way of showing appreciation.

Rei shrugged her crossed her arms, putting all her weight into her left leg. "I just wanted to give you a hug in thanks of being my friend. I know that sometimes, I am a total bitch and take your friendship for granted, but I wanted to let you know that I am here for you...just in case, you know, want to talk. That's what Ami always did for me." Rei's face darkened at the mention of Ami and Mina could see the shining glisten of the violet eyes of Rei's began to water, as she tried to shove her tears down, refusing to let them fall. Mina inwardly cursed her own weakness, and gave Rei a thankful grin as she grabbed the raven's arm and pulled her out of the kitchen and into Lita's bedroom.

Shoving the raven onto the bed and throwing the covers onto her, Mina stood at the edge of the bed and smirked. "Your losing your mind, if you actually think I think of you as a bitch and you need to give a thank you hug to make me feel better. Get a clue, Rei, your one of my best friends, I'd talk to you if I needed to, but right now, your dead on your feet and need rest. We'll find a way to save Ami when you wake up. So, sleep well." Mina scolded as she walked out of the room, leaving a stunned raven as she closed the door behind her.

As soon as Mina heard the soft _click! _ofthe door being shut, she buried her hands in her face and sighed. "What the hell are you doing, Mina? Getting tired? You need to hurry up and find Ami!" She muttered to herself as she made her way to the balcony. Pulling open the doors, she transformed into her counter ego and jumped out into the afternoon air. Her blonde hair fluttering madly behind her as she nimbly landed onto the roof across the street, ten stories down where Lita's apartment stood on the twentieth floor.

The sun began to sink down the horizon, giving way from afternoon to evening, as the air began cooler. Venus took out her communicator and clicked on the tracking button, knowing that there might be a chance that Ami had her communicator. Even though, Rei hadn't explained how she was going to use the communicator to find Ami, Mina had already figured it out, after the raven had mentioned it. Completely forgetting the fact that each senshi had a tracker in their communicator if such a situation as this one would occur.

As she watched the screen scan out her surroundings and navigate its way towards Ami's communicator, Mina knew that wherever Ami was, surely Cosmos was as well. She needed Cosmos to answer some of her questions, but with Rei around, she couldn't. So, taking the time for Rei to rest, Mina was going to find Cosmos and get Ami back. Even if it meant killing the one person that had saved her and her friends' lives. Ami would come home. _Alive._

_Alright...its been six months, but comment and tell if this chapter was a complete waste of my time or if this might be leading to something. Your decision. _

_-Danni_


	8. Chapter 7: A Soldier's Hell

A Moon Never Clasped

By:Danni Lynn

Chapter 7: A Soldier's Hell

~+!Ami!+~

_Pale skin shone as an eerily pasty snow-cerulean under the faint light of the full moon that glowed through the cracks of the window curtains, shining onto the beige carpet, that now was drenched in a heavy, black liquid. Eyes open and rolled in the back of the head, revealing only the whites of them, stared pain struck into the darkness of the room, that was begin to reek with the smell of decay in the summer heat. The sound of cicadas ringing from outside became only white-noise as everything began to fade, except for the pleading of her mother's whines for death and the gunshots that had seemingly struck the little girl that stood like a silhouette in the middle of the room next to the heap of bodies. _

_Though, no wound actually injured her, she would forever be crippled, in her soul for as long as she walked among the Earth in body and in spirit. To be forever tortured by the sight of her beloveds' death. Silent tears fell upon the young child's cheeks with the one knowledge that her parents had been cruel enough to leave their own daughter behind in a world that she was not wanted in. _

_Their black blood was splattered against her new night dress, that her father had bought for her no more than a week before, but now it was ruined, by the conception of betrayal. Thinking they could show her love before they ripped it out of her heart, it was almost as if they, themselves, had tore open her chest and wrapped their fingers around her heart and squeezed till it was squished. By taking the choice of leaving their daughter in the reality they had wished to escape from, they had single-handedly murdered the child forever, by biding her silence with the pain of being left alone._

_The child would never forget the look on her parents' faces as they pulled the trigger and left their only living kin alive and the way the blood splashed against her heated skin in a gory fashion. The one thing she remembered clearly was the smell of iron. The smell of blood that was splayed across her face, dress, walls, ceiling and floors. She was never the same after that._

The sound of gunshots rung into the air, causing the blue haired teen to jerk awake, and stare startled around the room, but all she saw was a white room that held nothing but a closed window and the bed that which she laid upon. As she tried to figure out where she was, she suddenly felt exhaustion hit her like a brick wall and before she knew it; her head hit the pillow with a soft thud and her eyes drifted shut, but not before she caught sight of familiar azure eyes watching her with a dead gaze that left her feeling cold.

_Blond tresses fanned out softly in the wind, as a blinding white dress reflected the purity of the sun. "Ami." Came a sweet voice that beckoned the petite genius with an outstretched hand that's skin glowed with a light tan. Ami's sight was blurred by what, she did not know. All she could see was a blonde figure, shorter than she, with a gleaming alabaster dress that billowed behind her in the currents of the wind, her long blond hair trailing behind. The face was not visible, but Ami felt a soft light pierce her heart, and it was if the world faded from her. Not deprived of senses, but more of a lack of a world being around her, as the two female figures stood in an abyss of light._

"_Ami, come to me." The woman called out to her as Ami felt the urge to be wrapped in this figure's present, to bask in the light the woman produced. Taking the blurred hand, Ami wrapped her fingers around it, but gasped when horrid imagines ransacked through her mind. Wrenching her hand free from the blonde goddess, as the bolts of lightening ebbed and her heart felt a little heavier. The light around them becoming an ashen color, beginning to turn gray as Ami took a few steps from the female figure before her, afraid at what she had saw in her mind's eye when they had made contact._

"_Ami. I can grant you the light you yearn, to fill that void in your heart that you desperately hide from the world you live in," The lulling voice gently told Ami, somehow sensing Ami's fear as her secret had been ripped of its blanket and revealed naked, bare, to the woman before her. Ami suddenly felt very tiny and very scared. Frightened by this goddess that knew of the blackness that ate away at the kindred blue-haired teen. She had been discovered._

"_Though, if you take my hand and bask in this light I willingly share with you, be warned, for it comes at a price that you might not wish to pay." The goddess explained as its tone grew quieter and held a hint of sadness in its depths that struck at Ami's strings with a forlorn tune. Curiosity sparked Ami's interest at what this price may be, but did she really want to pay it. Could she find out? All she had to do was ask. Didn't she? "May you tell me what this price is?" Ami wondered as the blurred figure seemingly rippled as if it was a reflection on a pond's surface, the sound of a low chuckling could be heard. _

"_The light you seek, is the light I have, but the price I give, might not be the price you want to take." The blonde riddled, causing Ami's eyebrows to furrow to together in agitation. She was getting nowhere. "In English please?" Ami stubbornly retorted as she crossed her arms, becoming annoyed with the round about answers she was getting. The succulent sound of the woman's laughter enticed Ami, causing her to loosen up, coaxing her out of her anger._

"_As you wish Ami, the price you must pay is the knowledge of pain that you will endure with the light you will receive, henceforth you are actually taking this offer of mine. Which in contrast, though the light will ease and mend your sorrows, you will gain pain in the knowledge that you have forgotten something dear to you. Something that you had once wanted to protect, but failed in doing so. This is the price you will pay, the question is: do you accept?" The goddess asked, her voice filled with sorrow that made Ami wonder who this blurry figure really was. Yet, did she want to take the offer? She would lose pain, but gain some in the end. She was dying because of pain. Could she live with pain and still be laughing, not on death's door?_

_Shrugging, Ami sighed as she gave a small smile before she bounded the few steps forward and grasped the blonde figure's still outstretched hand. "I accept." She replied, her voice coming loud and determined. She would not cower, she would live! No pain, no gain, as what she told as a child. How right they were. "As you wish." Was what she heard before everything around her was ripped away and she was left standing in darkness. Unlike the Hell she had went through earlier, this darkness was peaceful, gentle in a way and this time, instead of light coming to her, she was the light. Glowing with it, actually._

_Then with a sudden jolt, Ami stumbled to the ground in the darkness, griping her chest in agony as sorrows she had never known jerked through her forcefully as memories came flooding through her, filling her mind with the capacity of an entity she was not aware she knew had existed. Image after image, she relived, each holding another joy, another laughter, but yet it also came with another misery and another grief. So much love, so much pain. How could she had let this happen?_

_As the memories began to fade away, and the pain began to ebb, Ami was curled in a tight ball onto the ground, sobbing. Her heart was bleeding more than it had ever been. God, was so cruel to her. "Ami. Its going to be okay. You accepted this. This is the price, but with it comes the light. Cherish it as well as the memories. Don't let the darkness win, again." The sweet voice whispered to her, as Ami pried her closed eyes open and glanced sideways at the angel before her that beamed with a radiance so astounding that it hurt to look at. Tears flooding down her cheeks, Ami leaned forward, feeling weak, with her hand reaching for her blonde goddess. Her one true light. Her guardian angel. She was mere inches away from touching the fabric of the blonde's dress, but felt exhaustion trickle through her, causing her to grow limp. The blond goddess moved forward and wrapped Ami in her arms, falling to her knees to catch Ami before she hit in the ground. Wings wrapped around them, as Ami stared at the blonde figure before her with her eyes half lidded, truly seeing her through eyes unveiled. _

_Smiling, Ami lifted her hand and caressed the blonde's cheek, "My friend." She whispered, as the tears stopped and her eyes closed, her hand falling onto her stomach, limp. Cerulean eyes twinkled and a sadden smile danced upon the pink lips, as the blond goddess hung her head and wept. "Thus the pain of remembering one such as I. Sleep well, and forget for now till we meet in the world you walk upon. Sweet dreams Ami. We'll meet again, sooner than you know." She whispered before the light and the goddess shattered and Ami floated in the comforting abyss once more. Resting peacefully for the first time in almost two years._

Warmth embedded her every being, coursing through her like laughter on a summer breeze, providing energy, she had not felt in years. Where had the time gone by? Day after day, she had suffered inside herself, with images that had tortured her as her body began to rot, but now, it was if a curse had been lifted. No more did she feel the restraints on her physical limits, and gone was the sorrows that churned her heart in agony. She felt like she could run forever, laughing and living. Doing what she loved most, _being alive._

Yet, as she cracked her eyes open and sat up happily in the bed she occupied, she was aware that she was in a room unfamiliar to her, but it did not hold the depths of darkness and decay most houses held, more of a joyous tune that hummed in the air, as she would put it. Smiling, she shrugged before she stretched, yawning away the sleepiness that gnawed at her waking body. Rubbing her eyes, she realized she was in the very room she had first awoken in before she had fainted back into a sleep. A sleep that had oddly left her rejuvenated and spry with energy. The beige walls seemingly glowed with her laughter as she threw off the covers of the bed and sprang to her feet, shrieking with laughter. "Its so good to be alive!" She merrily sang as she sauntered to the open window and peered out, seeing nothing but a street that lead out into the mountains. Tilting her head to the side, she gave a small smile, unsure of where she was. "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." She cried jokingly as she flippantly turn away from the mountains and forests, and began to head towards the door, when suddenly she stopped.

For there stood the blonde goddess of her dream and suddenly, a name escaped her lips, "Serena" she whispered to the wind, but yet, the name held no flavor, no charitable memory that came to recollect on the reason why the foreign name sounded so sweet to her ears and felt so familiar on her lips. Azure eyes watched on in grief clouded misery as pink lips ordained a lilting smirk, amusement overlapping pain. Ami instantly could see that the blonde woman from her dream was positively the same before her, that stood with arms crossed leaning against the door frame staring at her. "Why Dorthy, whatever do you mean? This is Kansas alright, all you have to do is look around the river bend." The petite blonde grinned as she jerked her thumb behind her, pointing in the direction of a window on the other side of the next room.

Ami chuckled as she moved past the blonde and scurried into the next room, practically skipping all the way to the other window. Flipping open the panel lock, and gently pushing the window open, Ami leaned out and saw that she was still home. Just on the very edges of Tokyo city, where it lead out into the mountains. A good couple miles away from her home, but still in the same city. Which made bus tax less expensive, she laughed at the thought. "Why its Kansas! Toto! We're back home!" Ami cried as she spun around and faced the blond, as she sucked in a fake gasp, holding a hand to her mouth, acting as if she were surprised. "Why I had the strangest dream, and you were in it." Ami honestly told the woman before her and crossed her arms and leaned against the edge of the window sill.

The blond tried to give a smile but only grimaced before her gleaming azure eyes darkened to a hazed cobalt blue. Leaving the blue-haired teen left to wonder why she made such a sadden face. "Yes, Ami, I was. Please. Take a seat, and let me explain." The blond gestured toward the couches that were next to her, as she moved around towards the front of it and took a seat. Ami nodded her head and made her way to the seat perpendicular away from her the woman before her.

"Ami, so much has changed, that I cannot merely begin to tell you where this tale of mine lies, but instead of me explaining it to you, I can give it to you. Well, more as I already did." The blond gave a small smile before she reached inside her pocket and pulled out a blue pen, one at which Ami gasped as the symbol of Mercury was adorned onto the cap of the pen, revealing, that she was Sailor Mercury, as well as Ami Mizuno. The blond placed the pen onto the coffee table that laid between the two woman that sat at polar opposites of each other. Leaning back into the couch, and crossing her legs as she folds her hands neatly into her lap, the smaller woman smiles gently at Ami. "You have all the memories that you have lost back inside you. You have paid the price for remembering what you have lost, but right at this moment, in a sense you have amnesia. You have what you need, but if you truly want it, all you have to do is pick up your pen." The woman nodded for Ami to retrieve it, but held up her hand to signal for Ami to wait, as she was already reaching for the pen.

"Alas, if you pick up that pen, you will be who you were before this...all began, but you will have to take the horrors you once endured back into your heart and learn to live with the misery of that knowledge. Now, if you refuse it, the light you have received will flee, because I cannot save you if you wish to remain in the dark. Now, decide. The light is hell but rewarding and elating. The dark is heaven but torturous and killing." The blond finished as she watched Ami with a guarded face, waiting for Ami to respond, who raised an eyebrow and smirked. "I will remember what I have forgotten and be fine, for if I lived through it once, I can live through again. I want to keep laughing, don't you dare think otherwise." Ami firmly stated as snatched up the pen and winked before she held the pen closed to her heart and smiled.

For several seconds, silence reigned upon the room and the blond squirmed, fidgeting in fear at the final outcome the blue-haired genius might do. Ami wept silently as smiled, the pain that stabbed at her in her dream was almost murderous but it wasn't so devastating as now she had the light and grasped the darkness, remembering to accept both of them for peace. Opening her tear soaked eyes, Ami stared at the blond girl before her. What was lost had been found and the wound in Ami's heart began to mend back together again.

_Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,_

_Humpty Dumpty had a great fall._

_All the King's horses and all the king's men,_

_had put Humpty Dumpty back together again._

Ami got up and moved to stand in front of the blond, before she fell to her knees, head bowed in respect, much like a knight would do to a Queen. "Sere, I apologize for I have forgotten the most precious thing in my life. _You_. I was left alone in a void, unable to find what was missing, but princess, you have saved me. I am in debt. Is there anything I can do for you as a faithful servant?" Ami asked, feeling fear in her heart at what her loving princess might do. Would she be banished? Would she be beaten like the unruly dog she was? How could she be forgiven?

Serena stared at Ami, her face almost grief stricken, as a few trickles of tears escaped the corners of the blond's eyes. Feeling her heart contract in pain, Ami sat down next to the petite blond and pulled her into her arms, repeating the same action the goddess in her dream had done to her. Serena buried her face in Ami's chest and began to sob, her tiny body shaking with a wrenching force, her cries almost sounding like screams. They stayed there for minutes; Ami holding her princess, as Serena clung to her guardian with a possessive force, crying her woes to the world.

After a little while, Serena's sobbing died down, and she pulled away from Ami, to get a good look at her lost friend. "Ami, I've finally gotten you back. I missed you so much. All I ask of you, not out of a servant but out as a friend, don't ever leave me again. I couldn't bear it." Her princess softly murmured as she began to wipe away her drying tears, trying regain some of her lost composure. Ami's heart jerked violently in pain at the thought that her beloved friend, sister, princess, had been left alone without anyone to care for her. God wasn't just cruel to her, but to all of his creation.

~+!Mina!+~

Standing outside the outskirts of Tokyo, Sailor Venus glanced back down at her communicator that pinpointed the exact location that Venus had been following. "Ami, hold on. I'm coming for you." The orange clad senshi whispered as she placed a hand above her brow to block the blinding rays of the sun to glance up at the run down apartment complex that her communicator had led her to.

Feeling her heart pound in anxiety, Venus sucked in a deep breath, as she saw a window on the second story wide open, revealing little of the room, but it was more than what she had, and she wasn't going to waste the chance. Bending down low, the senshi of love felt her muscles tense as built up power was instantly releases, as Venus sprang fifteen feet off the ground. Air flowing around her, the nimble blond grasped the window sill with the tips of her fingers, before she took another breath and swung backwards through the open window; wishing, believing, that what she might find would ring true with life, not death.

Landing cat-like on her feet, Sailor Venus scanned the room she was in, and stopped dead when she caught sight of a oh-so familiar blond and the girl that she had been searching for. Rubbing her eyes in disbelief, the love senshi was unable to attain an understanding on why the two woman sat in the middle of the room as if they were old friends catching up on lost time.

"Ami? And is that you...Tsukino-san...From school?" Venus exclaimed as she stood rooted to the spot with denial as the two females turned around to see the Sailor senshi standing in the room. Ami's face lit up as the blond's face darkened a bit and made her way to her feet. "Mina." They said in unison, the tone differing from cheerful to mournful.

For one, why did Ami look like she was healthy as an ox? Venus couldn't remember the last time she looked so...living. For two, why was the girl she just met at school two days prior with Ami and seemingly appearing as if she was crying? Venus couldn't wrap her head around it, unless...unless. No, it couldn't be! But, ah, what else was more reasonable than some other ridiculous notion that the blond could think up?

"Your Cosmos, aren't you? Tsukino-san?" The senshi of love snarled as she regained her bearings and bounded the few meters to Ami and snatched her up out from the couch, wrapping her friend in her arms protectively, while glaring at the blonde all the while. Tsukino-san understood the menacing atmosphere as she voluntarily took a few steps away from the love senshi and Ami. "I can understand how upset you are about this whole ordeal, Mina, but if you would let me just explain-" The blond tried to reason but was cut off as Venus jumped right in on her, going for the throat. "Your Cosmos, aren't you? Aren't you?" Venus shrieked accusingly as she began to pull a reluctant Ami behind her, who was trying to mumble something to the increasingly agitated blond.

Tsukino-san flinched as she bowed low in commendation for the senshi of love, refusing to straighten herself up in retrieval of anything left of self-respect giving way that she, herself was a dishonor to the authority of Venus. "Yes." She answered, her voice ringing clearly with confidence. Venus' eyes widen, feeling herself gasp with shock, even though she had already known, but now that the blond had openly admitted it, she felt realization begin to set in.

"Your Cosmos." Venus repeated, eyes losing color and going dull as they hardened with hostility. Still bowed low, Tsukino-san nodded her head, as the senshi of love clenched and unclenched her hands. Angry that Ami had been kidnapped by a person that she had trusted in. How could this be? "Transform." The orange clad senshi spat as she caught Tsukino-san adjust her weight from each foot in, what Venus suspected was, uncertainty. "I cannot." Was the simple reply as the blond kept her head low.

"Why not?" Venus snarled, becoming hysterical as the wild clutches of exhaustion and repressed helplessness began to grab her heart in an iron grip, breaching any sense of rationality. Tsukino-san slowly began to straighten up as the atmosphere began to cackle with a power, Venus almost shied away from, but kept firm. Sapphire meeting cobalt, their gazes met, each wielding a power far greater than any human could ever imagine. A struggle hold for dominance, must you.

"I refuse to meet to you demands, in this delusional state, Mina-_san._" Tsukino-san snapped as she waved a hand nonchalantly over Mina's tensed and battle-hungry body. Her blood boiling in annoyance, Venus grabbed her love-chain from her subspace pocket, and cracked it in the air, trying to startle the blond. "Transform, and show me that you are, who you say you are, Tsukino-san, or I shall be condemned to use unusual force to make you understand what I mean." The tired swept senshi hissed as her knuckles went white from gripping the chain in a death hold.

Sighing, the petite woman nodded her head in commission. "Do not underestimate me, Mina-chan. I wish not to spill blood that you might regret when you will be...more submissive to understanding and logic later. Please, know, that making me do this, will cause you some...guilt." The blonde warned as she took a step back and muttered some words that caused the room to be bathed in a blinding, pure white light. Venus heard Ami gasp as she caught sight of the now transformed Sailor Cosmos that stood in the middle of the room.

Seizing her up, Venus felt a shudder of cold fear run down her spine, as she reviewed Cosmos' wings that tucked in neatly behind her, as if they had been there all along, hidden by a cloth of some sort. "'Tis, my true form, Sailor Venus. Any further questions you wish to demand?" Cosmos commanded as her voice lost emotion and those dead, empty-void-like eyes watched Venus with an energy that caused the love senshi to take a few steps away from the winged goddess, falling in line with Ami, who Venus had admittedly forgotten.

"Why did you save us, if you were just going to take Ami from the get-go?" Venus asked as she thoughtfully took her love-chain back into its subspace pocket, not wanting to entice an unneeded battle. Cosmos eyes darkened and her silence caused Venus to shiver. Just then, Ami jumped between the conversing blonds and held her arms wipe open, seemingly trying to protect Cosmos from Venus. "Mina! Stop this! Sere meant no harm. She was trying to keep us safe." Ami interluded as she glared accusingly at Venus, who stared at her with a fixed stare. "Harm? Harm? Ami! You were dying, and then this bimbo decided she was going to kidnap you as you were on death's doorstep! How is that keeping you safe? When there are doctors that can help you!" Venus insisted as she vigorously threw her hands up in the air as if they ratified the answer the frustrated senshi was trying to put out.

Instantly, Ami's face went stricken with misery and forlorn as she hung her head abit, causing Venus to mentally slap herself. "They couldn't have done anything, Mina. Yesterday, when I had that seizure, my heart was about to fail. I was dying...I was suppose to be dead, _yesterday _but she," Waving her hand behind her towards Cosmos, who only watched the friends argue with a detached gaze, glared at Venus, "saved my life. I would have been dead if she hadn't done what she did. You should be thanking her, not trying assault her." Ami finished as she crossed her arms and waited for Venus to respond.

Unable to produce any words, the senshi of love could only stare at Ami as the blond's brain began to fry from the all the stress and exhaustion that she had fueled endlessly for the last forty-eight hours. Suddenly, there was a sound of fluttering feathers as Cosmos made her way around Ami, who graciously stepped back to let the winged goddess through, and stopped to stand in front of Venus, who stood wavering on her feet. "Sleep, Mina. Rest is your well deserved." Cosmos waved her hand over Venus, and instantly, without warning, Sailor Venus was transformed back into her alter ego, Mina Aino. Then, as if a light had been turned off, Mina felt as if all strength had fled her.

Cosmos turned halfway to get Ami's attention as she muttered in a low voice, "Catch her, before she falls.", and walked away from the two friends. Mina's eyes began to grow heavy and the world started to become dim. Ami hurriedly ran to Mina, just as the exhausted blond's legs gave out from under her. Staring up into Ami's face, Mina gave a small smile as her eyes slowly closed. "Ami-chan, Rei's going to be so happy to hear...your alive...", the light disappeared and was replaced by a comforting darkness that Mina gratefully welcomed as her consciousness fled, "I'm happy...too.."

The living wake of hell was gone, and now came the sweet a-bliss.

~+!Serena!+~

Seeing Mina glaring at her as if she was a person to be despised had brought Serena a great deal of sorrow, causing her to turn away just as Ami caught the now sleeping Mina. Cosmos had seen how frigid and tired the love senshi had appeared, wishing not to dredge up something that could be easily avoided, she had consented to the whims of the exhausted blonde and done as she had commanded, but knowing she needed rest, Cosmos had justified the situation by letting the senshi get some well deserved sleep.

Ami grunted as she climbed slowly to her feet, Mina's weight supporting against her. Cosmos turned and gave a half smile at the almost comical situation Ami had found herself in. "Need help?" The winged goddess offered as walked to Ami's side, who gently pushing her away by giving her a small shake of her head. "No, need princess. I've got energy to spare. I want to do this on my own." Ami insisted as she dragged Mina's limp body towards the bed Serena had lent to Ami.

"As you wish." Serena consented as she gave a low chuckle to Ami's grumbles on Mina being fat and needing a major weight-loss plan. Turning away from the struggling pair, Cosmos transformed back into Serena and made her way towards the room, to preform the almost daily ritual of becoming heaven sent to becoming mortal.

Running some warm water into the bathtub, Serena pulled the bathroom door shut and sat down on the edge of the bathtub. Her wings folding around her, she tried to keep her gaze away from the gruesome display of the blood tinted restroom. Usually, she waited till all the feathers blew away, but she couldn't walk around with wings attached to back now could she? Especially, when her apartment was only so big.

Letting the sound of rushing water drown out her moans of agony, Serena grabbed the machete and brought it to her left wing, while lifting her head upwards towards the ceiling. Tears were streaming out from her eyes, as the dulling blade ripped through muscle, tendons, tissue and bone. Feeling each nerve frayed on ends from the pain, Serena groaned as the weight of her burden lifted and the wing dissipated into the air, relieving Serena to some extent.

"Stupid Mina and stupid ways of being showed something." Serena muttered darkly under her breath as blood sprayed the walls and and splashed into the tub. Sweat broke out onto Serena's brow as the agonized blond shrieked from the pain that raked through her body like being burned at the staked. The air crackling with Serena's screaming as she brought the blade to her other wing and began to rigorously saw through it.

Suddenly, the door swung open to reveal a wild-eyed Ami, who stared at Serena in utter horror as she mutilated her own body to shed the wings that were so heavenly divine. "Great Goddess! Serena! Stop it!" Ami screeched as she tried to get close, but Serena's wing broke off and began to fade into thin air as crimson sprayed onto the walls of the bathroom.

Serena's eyes rolled into the back of her head, as Ami caught Serena just in time before she face planted into tile floor. Blood oozed from Serena's back as it poured into the vermillion colored tub. Ami took in the entire rust colored bathroom, that seemed to be bathed in past dried blood. Just as Serena was regaining her composure, she heard Ami murmur underneath her breath, "What has happened to you, since we were gone, Sere?", whispering profanities.

Serena weakly lifted her head, still leaning against Ami, and slowly grimaced. "Hell, Ami. I've been through Hell."

_Alright, a fast-update. Again, not an action packed one, but you know, you always have work your way to a climax, ja? So, tell me if it was a yeah, or nay, story. Give me a review, and maybe..maybe..I'll continue...aha, just kidding, of course, I'll finish it!_

_-Danni_


	9. Chapter 8: Conflicts with the Heart

A Moon Never Clasped

By: Danni Lynn

Chapter 8: Conflicts with the Heart

~+!Serena!+~

Ami went rigid, as Serena stared fixated at the ground, unable to speak of the infinite horrors she had gone through, and to add to it; she couldn't even remember an entire year out of the two years she had been left behind. Galaxia had taken away all of the memories of her existence, but truly, she had never left. She had always been there. To speak truthfully, there was evidence of her being, it was written in between the lines of the faded words.

Ami wrapped Serena in a tighter grip, feeling sorrow ache in her chest unable to cope with the profound feelings that tore into her like a knife.

"Leave." Serena spoke so softly, that Ami strained to hear the sweet voice of her long lost princess, yet, she still had not caught it. The blond began to tremble as something new began to well inside of her, something she had never felt before. Ami stared startled at Serena, as the moon senshi pushed Ami out of her grasp and made her way on wobbly legs. As she was regaining her balance, she slipped and was falling when Ami leaped to intervene, but Serena caught herself in time, and put her hand up in a way to signal Ami not to touch her.

Serena turned away as she leaned against the wall for support, wrapping her arms around herself; her body shaking with a force so astounding that Ami was surprised she did not shatter onto the floor like a delicate porcelain. "Sere? What's wrong?" Ami spoke soothingly as she moved to stand next to her princess, but was only left to stand alone, as the blonde took another step away from her, not turning to meet the aqua senshi's worried gaze.

Ami could see the blood that steadily poured from Serena's back, where...Ami gulped, the wings had been. "Let me help you." Ami started, trying to make another effort to comfort her princess but stopped short when the quietly sobbing blond took the side of her fist and smashed it against the wall, startling the sapphire-haired female. "No! Leave me alone!" Serena screeched as she lifted her fist and hammered it back into the wall, cracking the tile plating that ran three quarters up towards the ceiling.

Ami watched on, helplessly and filled with fear, not with what her princess was doing, but what her princess had become. She suddenly felt realization creep into her heart, doubting her allegiance with this goddess. Did she really know her beloved, Sere, anymore? Nodding her head, Ami fled the tiny bathroom, her heart racing and her mind screaming at her to get out of the room.

Serena heard Ami dash away from her, the door slamming shut behind her, leaving the crying blond alone. She didn't understand why she felt sudden hatred at her friend, but then, didn't it make sense? Serena had fought tooth and claw with every ounce of strength she had, being revived from the dead, more than once, so her master could only watch Serena become more and more tortured. Some days, Serena really wanted to give up, let Galaxia win and flee this unruly hell that bound her so, with the intricate intestines of her own flesh, blood and ever-lasting love.

And now, after all this time, she had gained some of what she lost, but, when Serena took out the medal and looked at its worth, she felt disdain. Not for the beauty of the works, but at herself. How she had steeped so low, as to not have enough power to free all of her friends, but only one. Just one. The light of her will was suppose to save the galaxy, the universe; all of those that were clutched in Chaos' grip. Yet, she was a slave: the light; to the master: the dark.

Rage burst from every molecule in her essence. This wasn't good enough! She was weak! She was worthless! She was...Serena felt her knees give and she landed with a hard thud onto the floor, leaning forward with her forehead resting against the wall, she gazed unseeing at the ground...she was helpless. She was angry at Ami because Ami didn't; couldn't understand all of what Serena had gone through.

Each day was a test of her survival, will, love for what she wanted to protect the most and now that she had Ami back with her, she felt as if she was being tempted with a juicy piece of candy. If she took the candy then it would be ripped away from her, but if she didn't then she would only crave for it more. Without her knowing, Galaxia was slowing breaking her, and Serena felt the binds of her sanity slowly snap. She had saved Ami from her impending doom, but couldn't do the same for herself. Such the punishments for being a savior. May Selene guide her.

Serena felt her insides slowly become frozen; numb to all emotions. Caring for Ami might kill her, she thought with misery. She was sick and tired of loving something, only to have it taken from her in the end. Her tears stopped and her rage disappeared, no longer could she feel the emotions of entrapment confine her. She would move on, but first, she had to distance herself away from what she loved, to protect what she cared for the most.

Not bothering to wipe away the drying tears, Serena stood and made her away to the kitchen, passing the shut door of her bedroom, where Mina slept and Ami, Serena was almost certain, was hiding. Away from her. At the thought, Serena's heart was hit with a pang of sorrow, but she dared not to let it affect her. To be strong, she would have to fix her weakness. "Its part of the process, Sere. If you want them to live, then you just have to do this." She whispered to herself as she opened her refrigerator and pulled out a bowl of lemons that she kept stockpiled.

Turning her way back towards the bathroom after grabbing some towels from the linen closet, and a bowl of lemons from the kitchen, she made her way back to the horror movie looking room. Frowning at the gruesome sight of it, knowing she could never truly get rid of all the blood that had been shed in it. There were months and months of blood that had sprayed and seeped into the cracks, staining it a ruby rust that was becoming a sickly orange-brown.

Sighing, Serena set the bowl and towels onto the counter of the sink and scanned the walls where the blood had hit. Grumbling she laid a towel on the floor to sponge up the puddle she was standing in and used another one to wipe the wall with, after cutting an lemon in half and spraying it on top of the blood and after it had been wiped away, finally, the irony stench was gone. After everything but the walls where the bathtub was, were clean. Serena took the dirtied towels and threw them into the hamper outside the bathroom door, before returning to the bathroom and cranking on the water, spraying the hose towards the wall so the blood would run into the bathtub, which was beginning to turn a dark shade of crimson.

Confident that most of the blood was gone, Serena sprayed the lemon juice against the bathtub walls and drained the water, while letting the faucet stay on. Moving to shut the door, Serena began to strip and made her way to the bathroom, where she ran her hand against the walls to flick any remaining blood into the tub, and fall down into the drain. After the smell of lemon and blood become a faint blur that mingled together under Serena's nose, she plugged the bathtub and let the tub fill up.

Mist filled the room and hot water ran up Serena's shins as she turned the faucet off and slid down onto her back into the bathtub. Letting the warm water relax her tired and sore muscles, still aching from the pain that Galaxia had dealt her earlier; her 'punishment'.

Closing her eyes, Serena let all her worries drift away and succumbed to the comforting darkness that had quickly become a welcomed friend to escape the reality of her life. She had died. She had lived. She had loved. Now, she had to protect. And great Selene, was it testing her beyond and past her limits, to an extreme that it was still amazing that she was still left breathing.

Serena felt the world slip away and everything faded from her, as she opened her eyes once more only to find herself in another horror struck reality:

_The sky was a pale aqua blue with nothing but a few clouds as the azure water sparkled radiantly against the noon high sun. Waves broke and fell, crashing onto the sandy bay, as the wind blew swiftly and gently against the land. The sound of loving banter filled the beach, a family danced merrily amongst the shores of the ocean, laughing wildly and screaming._

_The youngest out of the family of four, a male, ran out into the water, grinning as a petite blond dashed after him squirting water out of a fake gun at him. He squealed in joy as he wadded far into the waves and dived beneath the visibility line. The current turning him this way and that as the water broke around him, the tide slowly pulling him out to sea._

_The blonde female shook her head in annoyance, as she grumbled beneath her breath and walked back to where her parents were sitting in the sand. Laying the water next to the cooler, the girl reached inside the portable container and pulled out a can of soda, where she popped it open and took a sip. She sighed contently as she sat down on the laid out blanket, beneath the shady cover of the beach umbrella. _

"_Serena, dear, can I have some of that?" The brunette mother, Ikuko, asked as she leaned forward in her chair and reached with an out stretched arm to her daughter's drink, whom reluctantly grunted and shoved it into her mother's waiting hand. Ikuko smiled sweetly as she gulped down the sticky liquid and brushed her hand over her sweating forehead. "What a hot day." She murmured before her husband, Ken, came and snatched the can of soda from her fingers. _

"_Thus, the reason we came to the beach, honey." He replied with a lopsided grin as he took a swig of the drink. Setting the soda onto the sand, Ken took off his shirt only to reveal a skinny stomach riddled with scars from the time he was in the military, where Ikuko caught sight of the fading lines and grimaced, recalling the days her husband worked the line of battle._

"_Oh, cool, soda!" Shrieked the merry boy that jogged up from the water, dripping, leaving compacted footsteps from his wet feet in the sand. Ignoring his father's marred body, the boy knelt down and picked up the can and chucked the last of it. Letting out a burp as the only recognizable identity of what was once in the tin can._

"_Sammy, you little twerp! That was mine!" Whined the older sibling that jumped from her sitting position and tackled her brother into the sand, who only laughed at her anger. "You weren't drinkin' it Serena, so I took what I wanted." Sammy answered much to the agitation of Serena's nerves. Sitting on her younger brother's stomach, she tugged on Sammy's mocha-colored hair, where he began to thrash and scream, as Serena only insisted on pulling harder. _

"_Serena Tsukino! Stop bullying your littler brother!" Ikuko commanded, where Serena frowned and lipped the words, "baby." in a jilting sneer before she got off her brother and sat back down in her spot._

_Sammy sat up in the sand, rubbing his sore head. "Your so stupid Serena!" He yelled as he bounced to his feet and kicked dirt at the unsuspecting blonde and ran off towards the water. Serena, startled by the wave of sand, yelled and stormed after her brother, who she could faintly make his head bobbing out in the water. _

"_Your dead, Sammy! Do you hear me?!" She roared as she paddled out into the sea, making her way towards her brother's body. "Huh, Sammy? Did you hear me?" She screamed as she tried to keep afloat among the onslaught of waves, yet as she approached her brother, she began to grow wary at his lack of response. "Sammy?" Serena muttered as she came to stop behead her brother's unmoving body. Becoming concerned, she pushed her brother around, only to shriek and flail about in the water._

_Sammy's vacant eyes stared at her, no longer their friendly azure lightening but a pitch black. Blood began to seep through from his hair, oozing slowly down his face where it was lapped up by the water and became a crimson cloud in the ocean. Serena, shocked, only watched as her brother grinned, bearing a mouth full of cracked teeth and a cut tongue. "I am dead, Serena. Remember? You killed me." He said in a placid monotone, all sense of humor erased from his voice._

"_I didn't kill you, Sammy, I swear!" Serena stuttered, quickly becoming frantic, unsure of what she was suppose to do. Sammy only shook his head and gave a low guttural chuckle that sounded like two bricks grinding against one another. "My big brave sister, Serena. You killed me." He repeated as he suddenly shrieked in an inhumane way and lunged for Serena, who's mouth was agape in horror, as she felt her younger brother drag her beneath the waves with amazing strength. She instantly choked on the salty water as she was brought farther and farther down. As she attempted to scream and thrash, she lost nothing but energy and air. Making it hard to keep her self conscious._

_When she began to see gray dots in her vision, she lost sense of awareness, and let the blackness take her away. Where she only felt a frigid coldness seep into her skin, and opened her eyes to see a bright beautiful day on the beach, but the person she saw standing before her, only made her cry out in sadness._

"_Master." Serena said through clenched teeth, struggling to keep her bubbling anger at bay. Galaxia laughed at Serena's failed attempts to keep calm as she feebly tried to get up but only wound up collapsing onto the sand in each try. Galaxia tsk at Serena before she raised her sword and stared at the broken blonde, "May you rest in pieces!" She shouted as Serena clamped her eyes shut and felt flesh tear and blonde splash onto her face._

_Serena, waited for the intense pain to come but as the seconds ticked by, the hot flash of her skin being minced never came to her nerves, so slowly Serena opened her eyes but just as soon as she did, she wish she hadn't. For there stood Sammy in his school clothes, as they were in the kitchen, just that the flesh Serena felt give way and the hot blood on her face, she realized wasn't hers, but Sammy's because when Serena looked down, she saw herself clutching the knife that was embedded in her own brother's stomach._

_Blood quickly pooled at their feet, where Sammy only stared at Serena in shock before he slumped over and let his dead weight fall onto her, where she slipped in the thick blood and crashed to the ground. Releasing her hold, Serena screamed as she shoved her brother off her and ran to the kitchen sink to wipe the blood off her hands, but as she was going to turn the faucet on, she looked up at the window and saw her reflection, Except it wasn't her, but Galaxia, whom only stared at her with an amused grin. "Having fun, princess?" She heard Galaxia's voice in her head._

Screaming, Serena opened her eyes and jumped out of the water, where she tripped over the bathroom curtains and tangled herself inside them as she flailed about in fear, still shrieking like a mad women.

Almost as quickly as she had leaped out of the bathtub, the bathroom door swung wide open to reveal a anxiety stricken blonde, who watched Serena thrash, naked in the clear curtains that had been ripped off their hinges. "What the hell?!" Exclaimed a surprised Mina, that stared at Serena dumbfounded. Ami, who had fallen behind love senshi, peered over Mina's shoulder with concern, noticing the naked female curling into a ball while tangled in the shower curtains.

"Sere?" Ami softly whispered as she gently pushed Mina out the door to get closer to the vexed blonde. "Ami...Ami..." Serena whimpered as she looked up and crawled towards the sapphire-haired girl, whom immediately knelt down and threw the curtains off her princess. Mina came in, and stood behind Ami. "What's wrong with her, Ami?" Mina murmured as she nudged Ami in the back to get the smaller girl's attention. "I don't know. Help me put her in the bed." The aqua senshi commanded as both the sailors picked up either end of Serena's naked body and transported her into the bed that Ami and then Mina had at one point vacated.

After laying her down and pulling the covers over her, did Ami become aware of Serena's condition. Gasping, Ami covered her mouth with her hand and bit back a sob, as she tore her eyes away from her princess. Standing up, she took a few steps away from Serena and tried to keep her composure. Mina, who had been watching Ami, went over to Serena to find out the problem, but after flinging off the covers did she shriek in surprise. "My god!" The love senshi cursed as she felt a chill crawl up her spine.

Serena, who had been practically muttering obscenities till then, looked up at Mina and Ami's exasperated faces and consciously pulled the sheets around her body. "You weren't suppose to see that..." The blonde murmured as she turned her head and glanced sadly out at the window. Wishing she could shrink and disappear away from her horrified scouts.

Ami, noticing the reaction she had accidentally inflicted upon her fellow comrade, mentally slapped herself and scurried over to the distressed female. "Sere, what are those?" Ami gestured to Serena's body hidden underneath the blankets. The blonde didn't meet Ami's searching gaze and twirled her thumbs nervously. "I've...um...I've had these." She replied in a voice barely audible.

Mina came over and once again threw the blankets off Serena and wildly pointed at Serena's skin. "She's not asking where they came from! Who the hell tortured you?!" The senshi hollered as Ami and her both returned their stare to gawking at Serena's flesh. Where scars of stabs and burns littered her torso, her left breast over her heart having a nasty and semi-healed gash running right through the nipple to her rib cage, where it appeared that her heart had been ripped out of some sort. Not only that, but Serena's back held faded marks of what looked like jagged whipping lashes that had obviously torn deep into her flesh and two bloody stumps over her shoulder blades of where the wings had been.

Tears fell down Ami's eyes as she embraced Serena into a hug. "Oh God, Sere, what had happened to you?" She sobbed as she rocked back and forth. Mina crossed her arms awkwardly and gave Serena a questioning stare. "Even though your the almighty Cosmos, from wounds like those, how come your not dead yet?" Mina bluntly stated, as she listened in for Serena's reply.

The blonde tore herself away from the aqua senshi and gave Mina a sorrow-filled look. "Because Mina...I can't die."

_Another story I decided to post of mine to you. Not too long, but I hope it was decent enough. This is all leading up to something mind you. So post a review and tell me what you think!_

_-Danni_


	10. Chapter 9: What is the Truth?

A Moon Never Clasped

By:Danni Lynn

Chapter 9: What is the Truth?

~+!Mina!+~

Tsukino-san's empty gaze met Mina's bewildered stare, as her mouth went slack for lack of words. Despite the fact that she had actually gotten some sleep to ease her stressed mind, it did not put to rest her frustrations, that were slowly mounting. The startled blonde wouldn't have believed Tsukino-san at all if she hadn't seen the truth on which was marred into the other female's skin. Where Mina could easily tell that the petite blonde had been wounded seriously from youmas more than once, for she bore similar marks on her own body. Yet, the senshi of love could also make out the intentional burn marks that appeared to be from cauterizing an injury, for again, she had her fair share of those too.

What truly horrified the sailor, was the way she had scars that interlaced once another that all seemed be from lacerations from what, Mina assumed, was a blade or a whip. The unemotional girl that sat, watching, Mina, was no more than the love senshi's own age if not, younger. The vexed blonde could tell so easily that this individual had been severely tortured beyond repair, but when she had met Tsukino-san at school, she had seemed so...normal.

Now...Mina didn't know what to think.

Bringing her gaze to the bloodied stubs on the blonde's back, Mina sucked in a breath and swore, finally tearing her eyes away from Tsukino-san. Unable to grasp the makings of what had brought this devastatingly tragic girl into Mina's life.

"You cannot...die...?" The words Mina whispered hung in the air, like a blade from a guillotine, simply waiting to be brought down on its next victim. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ami flinch behind Tsukino as the genius unconsciously wrapped her arms around the blonde.

Feeling a bubble of hysteria form in her chest that made its way up and out of Mina's throat in a twisted, high-pitched, squeal. The sailor of Venus began to consciously evade all sense of reasoning, her mind relapsing as it had before. "She cannot die!" She shrieked, madly, out into the room, hearing it reverberate off the white walls and echo around the almost empty apartment. She held her hands up into the air and spun in circles, giggling as if insane, her grin split from the cracks of confusion finally leaking in. Her mind losing the battle of reality and dream.

Then, suddenly...

She stopped moving, and her face fell becoming emotionless like the other blonde. She took one step and another, towards Ami and Tsukino-san, her body language never changing. Keeping a few feet distanced from the smaller female, Mina tilted her head, no amusement twinkling in her eye except the corrosive power of insanity, working its way into her head. "Why can you not die, Tsukino-san?" Mina repeated once more, her face slowly churning in anger; in rage.

The petite teenager, who was wrapped in Ami's arms, met the love senshi's crucifying glare with a hazed look, as a deep breath passed from between her pink lips and a silver of a tear escaped from her dulled eyes. "Because Mina...I am neither alive nor dead. I have my mind, I have my body, but I do not have my will. For someone else, has taken that."

The room echoed horrifying words that had not been spoken, as Mina's world seemed to spin with the revelation of how Tsukino-san was neither living or dead but caught in some in-between spectrum. Mina didn't know what to think or feel about all of what had occurred in the last three days but she was tired.

Tired of being ignored by her family.

Tired of being strong when she felt so weak.

Tired of being the leader.

Most of all, she was tired of not understanding.

Shifting her feet and placing most of her weight on her left foot, Mina let her shoulders go slack as she hunched slightly forward and dragged a hand across her weary face. Trying to focus her vision, the love senshi opened her mouth and closed it, unable to form a sentence in her head as exhaustion began to fatigue her once more. "I just want to know what the hell is going on." She sighed in agitation, anger slowly churning inside her confused mind.

~+!Rei's Pov!+~

_The cold night air stole the warmth from her breath and the energy from her muscles, making her want to curl into a fetal position next to a hot fire. Yet, the sound of battle cries off in the distance kept her from loosing awareness and all focus as she trained her eyes into the tree in front of her. As she struggled to get to her knees and back into the fray. _

_Frozen dirt clung to her bare legs and covered the scrapes and lacerations she bore from the youma battle that raged just a little ways ahead. As she tried to climb to her feet, she stumbled, feeling her right ankle shoot with pain as she caught herself from falling._

_Clenching her teeth, the ragged and bruised scout, dragged herself back into the scene, where she found an unconscious Mercury behind Jupiter that was busy attacking the winter-looking youma with lightening attacks as Venus held the youma down with her love-me chain._

_Clearing her mind, Rei felt for the flickering flame inside her, where she kindled it into a passionate fire and channeled it to her finger tips. Pulling her arms into the form of an arrow, the scout of Mars, snapped open her eyes and let go of the imaginary arrow as it suddenly formed into a blaze of fire headed for the struggling youma._

_Muttering quiet encouragements to the flying arrow, Raye felt the triumph of success blossom inside her chest, her aches and pain fading to the knowledge she helped keep the people of Earth safe for another day. This youma was as good as-_

_Suddenly, Venus cried out as crimson splayed out into the air, spewing from a wound in her chest. Icicles of despair pierced into Mars heart, as fear began to creep in. Venus' Love-Me-Chain laid broken on the ground in pieces, and the youma was gone. Falling into a panic, Mars desperately scanned the battle ground, only to see nothing changed._

_'This is not good, shitshitshitshit.' Mars mentally cursed, berating herself on her lack of awareness. This youma was unnaturally strong compared to all of the other foes they had faced previously and it was seriously quick. 'But yet...where could it have gone?'_

_Before she could even process the thought, Mars stopped...something wasn't right...no...something was wrong. VERY wrong. A strange sensation of warmth began to spread down from her belly to her legs, an odd smell hung in the air...it smelled like...like...blood! Glancing down, Mars saw a hollowed pipe no bigger than three inches in diameter sticking out of her chest at an odd angle. Her eyes widen in disbelief, as blood began to pool at her feet._

_Hearing an inhuman crackle behind her, Mars tried to see to look over her shoulder, but the pain was setting in and she was practically paralyzed in agony. As she began to collapse to her knees, the youma's insane laughter got louder as it ripped the pipe out of Mars chest. The senshi of fire would have screamed if it hadn't been for the fact that her lungs were filling with liquid, drowning her even as her body began to drain out all of its crimson life._

_She was going to die-_

With a horror induced shriek, Raye quickly sat up, clutching the white sheets that lay upon her in a death grip. She stared at her balled fists, as she tried to erase the dream from her mind, droplets of sweat beading from her furrowed brows and onto the sheets. The agony of pain from her dream still fresh in her mind, Raye tried to calm herself down, but by the trembling of her body, she knew that it wouldn't be anytime soon.

Throwing the covers off her, she hurriedly sprang off the bed and scurried to the bathroom, throwing the door open on her way in. Flicking the lights on, Raye stopped and stared at her reflection in the mirror: her pale and ghastly face stricken with a pallor sheen of sweat; her eyes wide with panic; her chest heaving for the need of air. She was terrified. Prying her shocked eyes from the mirror, Raye turned the faucet on and sprayed cold water into her face, hoping to erase the intensity of the dream that clung to her with a fierce lucidity.

After several long, emotion-filled minutes had passed, Raye was finally able to put some ease into her tension body. Glancing back up into the mirror, she could see that she had regained some color back into her face and that her trembling had stopped. Not wanting to look at herself any longer, the raven stripped herself bare and got into the shower, letting steam fill up the tiny bathroom.

Raye placed her forehead against the cool, tile wall as hot water streamed down in cascades upon her body, warming her frozen body. Unconsciously, Raye traced a circular, keloid scar that lay in the center of her chest, the simple motion causing the dream to resurface inside her mind. That dream...no, nightmare, Raye knew was a memory, a memory that she had wanted to forget. That battle had almost had cost her, her life, something she didn't want to lose. Underneath all of her bravado as a senshi, Raye was still a teenage girl full of dreams and young.

She wasn't Mina, who could so easily and willingly give up her life for the sake of others. She wasn't Lita, who would do anything to protect her friends. She wasn't Amy, who would do anything to take away the pain of people. Raye knew she was a coward, and selfish, but she grew up that way. Having to fight all her life, she just wasn't willing to lose it so easily for the sake of others, when nobody had ever been there for her when she really needed it the most. Yet, when she seemed to think that last thought, a fleeting image of blonde hair and a carefree smile flitted through her head and just for a brief second, Raye felt an odd sense of warmth battle away all the darkness inside her mind.

As she tried to grasp to keep the image inside her mind, it slipped away like a feather in the wind, disappearing from all senses. Even though, she couldn't remember what it was she was just thinking, Raye felt her heart settle with an unknown sense of peace, that coaxed away her pain and worries.

Finally snapped out of her daze, Raye finished her shower and stepped out into the empty hallway, a thin towel wrapped around her voluminous figure. Her injured shoulder that Mina had bandaged was already mostly mended, all the senshi had faster recovery rates then humans but depending on the person, it varied at the rate they healed. Raye just happened to heal the fastest out of all the senshi, Mina said it was because Raye had a strong personality, but the raven vixen had never believed the bubbly blonde, Raye was a selfish coward for all her worth, nothing strong in that.

Suddenly, Raye's train of thought ceased as she focused her thoughts on Mina, realizing that the blond female was no longer in the apartment. Cursing, Raye had an inkling feelings of where her comrade had gotten off to, but hoping to deny the thought, Raye ran to the bedroom to grab her communicator. Dialing in the outer senshi's numbers, Raye muttered obscenities underneath her breath hoping like hell that Mina hadn't gone and done something stupid.

The communicator beeped and an angry looking Amara appeared on the screen. "This better be something important!" The gruff lesbian growled, her lip curling in agitation, Raye had to keep back a wave of nasty retorts and took a deep breath. "Amara, your still at the hospital, right?" Raye huffed out, trying to count in her head like Ami had taught her to do so that she could keep her temper. Amara dramatically rolled her eyes and gave an 'obviously, fucktard' look that made Raye want to scream. Amara could be nice but that was only after she lesbian banged Michelle or was super drunk, other than that, she was usually a sanctimonious prick that Raye absolutely loathed to no ends.

"Fuck, is Mina there?" Raye sighed in frustration, luckily Amara kept a witty comment to herself and shook her head. "No, and why?" The question coming out more like a command. Raye simply gave her a sugar sweet smile and batted her eyes. "Oh, no reason." And promptly hung up.

"That bitch!" Raye hollered out into the empty apartment, her annoyance levels maxed to their peek, but she didn't know which one she was more enraged at: Amara, for being her usual self, or Mina, for disappearing to chase Ami. Raye knew that Mina was in no mental condition to go anywhere, she was running on empty fuel and hadn't even bothered to clean herself up from the last two battles. Mina couldn't help Ami in her condition.

Taking a deep breath and sighing in resignation, Raye sat on the edge of the bed, slumped over in exhaustion. Raye wasn't even in a better condition to chase after Mina, she was useless as usual.

All, she could do was sit and wait.

~+!Darien!+~

Darien awakened in a fit of rage, his mind clouded with thoughts of something he could not remember, but he knew that it enraged him, made his blood boil and his teeth clench. He ripped away the I.V. drip and the various wires that were embedded in his chest to keep his heart rate and breath rate monitored. Roaring, he pushed himself out of the hospital bed he had found himself in and tried to leave the room, but upon standing, his knees gave out on him and he ungracefully crashed to the floor.

A screech filled the room as the monitor that checked his heart rate flat lined for it was no longer hooked up to the bumbling man and soon enough, grim nurses rushed into the room, but were relieved to see the young man only fallen on the floor. As the young nurses tried to assistant Darien back into bed, he only shoved them off and tried dashing for the door, but was suddenly knocked down by a burly Doctor in a lab coat that struck a needle into his neck.

Soon enough, Darien's strange rage was forgotten as the blanket of unconsciousness swept him away.

As the Doctor and nurses placed Darien back into his bed and left the room, they failed to see the visitor that sat in a chair against the wall watching. Their golden eyes shining eerily as a crooked smile played amongst their lips.

"Let's play Serena..."

_Abit short and its been six months since my last update but I promise, that during the summer there will be more updates (hopefully) and that you guys stick around to stay in tuned for my next chapter!_

_-Danni_


	11. Chapter 10:The Hopelessness of theBroken

A Moon Never Clasped

By: Danni Lynn

Chapter 10: The Hopelessness of the Broken

~+!Lita!+~

_Perched upon the edge of the school roof, sat a tall brunette, who stared blankly at the sky. She laid her face against the cold railing, and invited its coolness as a warm breeze of the fading summer swept by. The wind blocked out all sounds, leaving the young teenager alone with her thoughts. Depression flickered in the depths of her irises, as a frown tugged gently at the corners of her mouth._

_Suddenly, tears began to roll down her cheeks, as she felt her heart ache in silent agony. She felt her throat constrict in reaction to the pain in her chest. As memories began to flint through her mind, the stinging in her heart grew stronger. Without realizing it, the youth was openly sobbing as she placed both hands in her face to hide her pained expression. "Oh why? Why did you leave me behind?!" The brunette cried out into the open air, wishing to scream to the heavens her sorrow. As her body shook with the force of her crying, she was given no answer by the gods for her pain._

_Despite the heat from the sun and the noises of the city below, nothing could invade the female's private world and soothe her, for what she so desperately wanted was not in existence anymore. She fought so hard to evade the reality before her, but time and again, did it hit her that what had been done was the final product. _

_As the realization began to sink in, a soft voice called from behind, "Lita-san, is that you?" From the sound of her name, the youth froze, not wanting anyone to see the agony etched into her face. "Go away!" Lita hissed as she wrapped her hands around the railing, her grip, knuckle-white. The pounding of approaching footsteps stopped mid-way, not far from where Lita sat. "Lita-san, are you okay?" Came a quiet reply, concern laced in the depth of the response._

"_Why are you here?" Lita barked as she glared intently at the sky, angered that she had been caught at her weakness moment. Cursing more so to herself, than to the person that stood behind her. "I come up here to think." The voice drew closer, as the person came and sat next to Lita, only a foot in distance. Lita turned her head away, not wanting the person to see the drying tears on her cheeks. "Who are you?" Lita asked, as she watched a flock of birds fly towards the northern mountains._

"_- -, at your service. So tell me, Lita-san, are you up here to think as well?" The person inquired, as it could be made out to be a female's voice. Lita felt her stomach twist as she remembered the entire reason she was crying. "- ~san, what do you think about death?" Lita softly spoke out to the visitor, as the brunette could feel the memories of time long past begin to enter her mind, once more. There came a soft sigh, and the sound of rustling clothes before Lita's answer came. "Death? Well, I guess, its a cycle. Cannot die without living, first. Its a sad thing, indeed."_

_Lita was struck with the sudden notion that she had, had this conversation somewhere, from a long time ago, but the sensation went away as soon as it had come. Blinking slowly, Lita absorbed the other girl's words, letting it roll around her head before saying her next sentence. " Ya know, this is the three year anniversary of my parents death. They died in a plane crash somewhere in the pacific." There was a long, drawn out silence that left the atmosphere seem cackling with tension, or so Lita thought._

_The other girl bounced to her feet and spun Lita around forcefully. "Instead of crying over their death, why not celebrate the memories you shared with them? So you can relish what you guys had together as a family. Hows that sound, Lita-san?" The strange idea took a little bit to sink in, because Lita was too awe-struck by the beauty of the girl before her. Her radiant smile was too intoxicating, drawing Lita to her, like a moth to a flame. _

_Too busy reveling in the youth's beauty, Lita dumbly nodded her head once and then again when she really thought about the suggestion, liking it more and more as it really settled in. "Yeah, I think I can do that, or at least try. How do I enjoy their life without being sad over their death, -~san?" The brunette asked, not knowing of where to begin. The beauty grinned in reaction. "How about we go grab some ice cream and talk about all the happy things you shared with them? That will be a great first step, Lita-san."_

_Lita smiled for the first time that day, attracted to the suggestion. "Ya, ice cream sounds good."_

Opening her eyes to beige, white walls, Lita lamely stared at the ceiling, already knowing where she was and what had happened. Yet, Lita couldn't understand why upon awakening, tears had crept down her face and her heart had ached. She only vaguely recalled her dream, knowing that it wasn't a sad dream at all, she could still feel the warmth of it battling away all her bitterness and filling her with a sense of ease.

So then, why was she still crying?

Why was there a deep gnawing in the recesses of her soul?

Why did it feel like something was missing?

Not wanting to dwell too long in her own head, Lita drew herself out of her wanderings, only then realizing how much pain her injury was causing her. Grunting with the effort, Lita pulled herself in a sitting position, just beginning to wonder the conditions of the other scouts, if they were faring better than she was. Ready to pull herself out of the hospital bed and find the answers to her questions, she stopped when there came a light chuckle from the far side of the room, where, Lita suspected the door way was.

Turning around to see who it was, Lita could not hide her surprise when she saw Amara leaning against the door. The Outer senshi rarely ever conversed in the well-fare of the Inner senshi. Instantly, Lita knew something serious had happened and her expression darkened. Seeing the reaction her presence brought, Amara sadly smiled before she came and sat in the visitor chair next to the bed. "Glad your awake. How do you feel?" Amara attempted at light conversation but Lita simply shook her head and frowned. "Dead as a door nail. Now can the crap Amara, What's going on?" She deadpanned, ending any exchanging of pleasantries.

Amara sighed and leaned forward in her chair, resting her elbows on her legs with her head cupped in her hands. "Sailor Cosmos, or whatever her name is, kidnapped Ami." Lita blinked, unable to process the information, but as it began to sink in, did a blinding rage envelope the brunette. Throwing off the thin blanket that laid upon her, Lita struggled to her feet, startling Amara. "Lita, what are you doing? Your injured!" The older woman scolded as she the pushed her chair away to stand. Before Lita could bark out a retort, she crumpled in pain, but before she hit the ground, Amara caught her, a furious glint in the older female's eyes.

"Let me go! I can stand! I have to save Ami!" Lita whined as she scrambled to get her footing, Amara only shoved the youth back on to the bed before scowling down at her. "And what _can_ you do, Lita? You can't even _stand_!" Amara exclaimed, agitation roiling out of her in waves. "But I have to do _something_!" Lita cried out, her anger giving way. Amara softened and placed her hand on the brunette's shoulder, hoping in someway this would comfort the younger girl. "Your injured, Lita. We'll get Ami back, but right now, you need to rest and heal up. We're going to need you soon." With that being said, Amara took her leave.

Lita laid back down, her mind wondering to Ami, hoping that she wasn't dead or dying. Hoping in some irrational sense, Cosmos took Ami out to go have a cup of coffee and some cookies.

Why would Cosmos kidnap Ami?

Lita simply couldn't understand. Feeling exhausted and fatigued, Lita succumbed to sleep. She could think about that later. She just wanted Ami safe.

~+!Sam Tsukino!+~

The sky blazed an array of azure, orange, and magenta, meshing together in a brilliant display of colors, but the teenage boy that walked solemnly down the street was not at all awed. For his head was hung and his feet dragged against the aged road, his uniform represented the middle school he attends but it was scuffed up in dirt and in some places, blood. His jacket was ripped at the sleeve, and revealing a bare arm full of bruises and lacerations. Not a single mark was upon his face.

Turning towards the entrance of his house, the adolescent trudged forward as if his feet were attached to cinder blocks. He held his backpack by one strap and dragged it uselessly against the ground, it too, was splayed in blood. He was drenched in sweat, it ran off his brow in beads as his chest heaved for oxygen. Today, he had killed someone.

This single thought ran around and around his head, driving him mad; driving him insane. It wasn't his fault. It wasn't his fault. He repeated to himself, hoping in someway, it would unwind what he had done.

When he reached the doorstep of his house, he felt an overwhelming impression that something awaited him inside the confides of his home. Shaking his head, he blew it off as paranoia. Yeah, that's right, only his imagination. With a shaking hand, did he turn the key and open the lock. Slowly pushing the door open, he heard the hinges groan in response, which only fed to his anxiety.

It wasn't his fault.

Wearily, he stepped into the house, forgetting to take his shoes off at the entrance and simply kept walking, heading for the kitchen. For he suddenly remembered he was hungry. Dropping his backpack in the middle of the hallway, he stumbled into the kitchen in a daze. Yet, as he made his way to the refrigerator, he caught sight of an old family photo, taken from his last year of elementary school and he stopped.

Suddenly, he felt propelled to touch the frame, and in doing so, he remembered...everything was so happy back then, he couldn't recall what it was that made them so happy but he just knew that it filled his parents and him full of life. He studied the wide grin of his father, Ken Tsukino, that was the last time he ever saw his dad smile. Not much longer that, did his father succumb to his chronic depression and let alcohol become answer to his problems. With a grimace, the boy recalled the sting of his parents divorce and how his father had completely fallen apart soon after.

Traveling his eyes to his mother's soft smile, did he fondly recollect the days his mother would make dinner for the family and was always there for him in every way possible, but now she wasn't there for him in anyway possible. Sometimes, he forgot his mother even lived there with him. Once they divorced, Ikuko Tsukino, picked up her career where it left off back in her youth and landed the job as the secretary of some fashion bigwig. He never saw her anymore. She probably only ever saw him as a burden.

Then he came face to face, with himself, or at least the younger version of himself in the photo. He hardly recognized the kid in the picture, for the boy, Sam Tsukino, had changed ten fold since the days of when his family began to fall apart. He didn't know what or why it had happened, it just did, as if all the happiness had disappeared.

Two years it has been.

Two years since he had even felt an inkling of happiness.

Two years since he had a real family.

Two, long, years since the light of his life had been taken away in one quick flash.

Now, he was alone. And a murder.

Oh, he killed someone today.

Sam Tsukino was not one to be blamed, since his family fell apart, he became recluse and drew from any social contact. In doing so, was he targeted for isolation by kids his age and became a target for severe bullying that happened day in and day out. He had been hiding his abuse underneath the thick clothing of his uniform, hoping nobody would raise questions and bother his mother. He was already a burden enough for her as it was.

Today, a big group of high school kids had decided to pick on him, and he had finally snapped. While underneath the foot of the ringleader, did he chuck a rock at the other boy's head and hit just enough Sam was released, but Sam didn't stop, he picked up said rock and kept hitting, again and again and again. Then before he realized it...the boy was dead.

Sam blocked his thoughts and tried to focus on his hunger. To feed himself was an easy task, he should be able to do just that. Opening the refrigerator, did he find leftovers of food three nights ago, with not much thought, did he pen the container and start eating the already rotting food. He tasted nothing, feeling as if he was eating cardboard.

Not caring, Sam made his way to the kitchen table and sat down, still eating. His mind moving around like sludge. He was a murder after all.

Then out of nowhere, comes a voluminous, tall, red haired woman that wore gold clothing. The boy didn't even blink in acknowledgment. He just kept eating even when the stranger sat down in the chair in front of him and stared at him smiling. "You don't seem surprised to see me." The woman, Galaxia, commented, watching Sam with amusement. Again, the boy showed no reaction.

Laughing, Galaxia grins even wider and leans back in her chair. "You know boy, I'm going to kill you." She matter-of-factually states, her yellow eyes flashing at him dangerously. Sam shrugged and stopped eating, pushing the half empty container away from him. "Go ahead. I'm a murder, you know. The quicker I die, the easier my mother will live." He blankly replied, before he too, leaned back in his chair and looked at Galaxia.

Galaxia raised an eyebrow in interest, her grin twisting in a malevolent smile. "Oh? Is that so?" She chuckled, observing him as if he was her prey. He nodded his head. "Yep."

It wasn't his fault, but he knew punishment had to served for what he'd done. He was no fool.

He was murder, that had it coming to him.

Roaring with laughter. Galaxia burst from her seat and latched onto Sam's shoulder. "Your going to be so fun to kill in front of you sister. Wait until she hears what you have done!" She gleefully giggled. Sam paused and looked at her, but suddenly, his vision began to fade and he began to feel very heavy. "My...sister?" He mumbled before he fell unconscious and Galaxia took him away to her palace.

_Alright, it is 4:00 clock in the morning, when I finished this. I hope you guys like this chapter, I've put a lot of time into it and setting up the stage for the rising climax. Read it and review!_

_-Danni_


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